The Loric Games
by Number Ten
Summary: Katniss Everdeen volunteered for her sister to compete in the 74th annual Hunger Games. Along with her counterpart Peeta Mellark, the two compete in a fight to the death. However, as the games begin, Katniss begins to notice something unusual is going on. Some of the players are very strong and unusually gifted. She has little time to confirm her suspicions when unexpected allies.
1. Prologue

Katniss' POV

I'm not one to believe in the impossible or unrealistic. I've always been the sane and practical one in my family. It's always been like that after my dad died, I've had to take care of my sister Prim and when I volunteered for her in The Hunger Games, I knew I was facing impossible odds. I didn't know at the time if I could win, there's twenty-four of us and only one comes out. But when I saw Prim and my mother, she made me promise that I would try to win for her. When I'd seen Madge and she presented me with a Mockingjay pin, I walked towards the doors that led to the train, the train would take me away, maybe forever and have no idea what was in store for me. Prim's words echoed in my head as I stepped off the platform into the awaiting end of my life. Peeta Mellark stands next to me, I avoid his eyes, but I can feel his eyes on me. I steal a quick glance and his eyes are possibly sympathetic and hardly re-assuring. I keep my composure and step into the train.

Little did I know, two very different worlds were about to collide and I left impossible back at the Reaping.

I ONLY OWN THE CHARACTERS I CREATE, THE REST BELONG TO THE PERSPECTIVE AUTHORS.


	2. Chapter 1: For Whom the Reaping Tolls

Katniss' POV

"I'm done, " I say softly. I toss my napkin onto the table and get up. I'd had an enough of Effie's descriptions of what the latest night club in the Capitol and Haymitch's constant demands for more liquor. I could only take so much "togetherness."

I walk down the dining car, knowing that Peeta was watching me as I went. I open the door at the end of the car and shift through. I wasn't going to get used the whooshing sound of the train. 99 miles per hour and you were hardly supposed to feel a thing. I felt it. I wished I was back at home, where everything was still.

I open the door to my room and sit on the bed. Genuine silk, typical for a bed spread of the Capitol. I'll admit it was an improvement over the moth ridden blankets that my mom was constantly sewing, but it just smelled wrong. Clean, artificial and most likely brand new. I wondered how many tributes before me had slept on sheets like this, probably never felt something quite like this and then once they were killed, the silken spread was most likely disposed of to get rid of the scent of District 12. They didn't want the filth of our poverty ridden lives contaminating what they had. it was much easier to toss them away, just like the Games does with our lives.

I turn towards the TV that's playing on the wall. It's just showing re-caps of the reapings. I can't help but glance every so often to see who will be competing. The first two districts are the same, beautiful and spoiled, but strong people volunteering to make their district proud. The next one a scrawny teen is picked from the boys in Three. He catches my eye for a moment. He doesn't...seem normal. He's unusually skinny considering what district he's from. He looks like he's been out of the sun for years and his eyes are black. He has those eyes that seem unforgiving and you could probably see yourself if you made eye contact. I shudder thinking that if I ever come across him in the arena, those eyes would be the last thing I'd see.

He has sharp angles on his face and his nose is unusually large. I'm trying not to judge, but he sticks out like a sore thumb. He stands at the ready, hardly bothering to brush his thick, black bangs out of his face. He also looks too old to be a tribute, he looks to be in his twenties at least, but his name was in the reaping ball so he must be 18. He avoids a glance at the cameras unlike the previous districts who were pumping up the crowds like they owned them. The girl chosen before him looks completely normal, shaggy brown hair and blue eyes. She seems almost wiry and possibly mousy.

I'm about to reach for the remote when the District 4 reapings appear. A man dressed in an excessive amount of feathers, including a hat made with peacock feathers stands at the glass bowl.

"John Smith."

A handsome boy looks about 15 years old. He's well built with a square jaw and has blond hair and blue eyes. He looks like Peeta, only slightly younger and more angry. He seems to be clenching his fists and hardly looking at the camera. I ponder over his name as he makes his way to the stage.

What an old fashioned name. Hardly used anymore, it's pretty weird. I know from history class that there used to be many Johns and it was a holy name, back when religion was a tradition. I wonder if his parents are Traditionalists from the Dark Ages. That's some kind of alliance that the Capitol has been trying make extinct for years. It contains people who are kind of rebels, they long for the peaceful days before the war and Panem. They've been labelled as crackpots and are ignored mostly, but one of their methods of rebelling is to name their children very old names. Whether their names are weird or not, they're still kids and they go into the reaping just like everyone else.

John Smith's made it to the stage and he keeps his eyes down. He has this really dark intensity to him that makes him really intimidating. I can tell he wants to punch the announcer, but his eyes go out into the audience and he sees someone out of shot. There's a cut to a girl, a very pretty girl who seems to be crying. She's also quite beautiful and blonde, she looks like a supermodel. She covers her face with her hand and runs towards the man with the camera.

"Leave me alone, you Capitol...!" and she storms from the scene.

_Poor girl, _I think to myself, just like Prim.

I can't imagine leaving the one you truly love at home, with the likelihood that you'll never come back alive. I have Prim and my mother and I promised I would try to win for her. I hadn't realized that John Smith probably made the same promise to his girlfriend. I can't help, but feel sorry for him, only one comes out alive.

The next girl reaped is taller than John and no doubt a Career. Districts 1, 2 and 4 are all known for having those kids who train until their 18 and then volunteer for the games, they can be arrogant and cocky, but they're pretty lethal. Although John Smith looks well built, he doesn't seem he spend all his time training.

The footage cuts to District 5. The girl is reaped and she's got fiery red hair and her persona is twitchy and possibly sneaky. Her face is almost fox like. A woman who's dressed like a disco ball picks out the boy's name.

"Bolt Antiriot"

A short and almost stubby kid stalks to the stage. He too looks about my age, he's shorter than most of the people in the crowd, but built like barrel. He looks like he could wrestle and win. He has brown hair that's shaved in a military buzz style. He also has an eye patch over his one eye. That is something I've never seen before. I start to wonder what happened to him. He, unlike the other tributes, has an unreadable expression. He doesn't look unhappy or distressed, but not pleased with the attention. He keeps looking at the ground and trying to hide the fact that he has one eye.

District 6 is next.

"Starla Wilton"

A girl, probably a year older than me stands up. She looks like a supermodel, tall, thin with hazel eyes and long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. She walks to the stage with her head held high, not a hint of fear, also not noticing that she's turning all the heads in the male section. She stands on the stage, with hands on her hips and a determined expression. Her chosen counterpart barely hails in comparison, he's a scrawny kid with dark hair and eyes. He looks really scared and fearful of the sudden attention.

I keep my eyes glued to the screen as District 7 are picked. A girl about eighteen is chosen. I hear her name.

"Marina Adeline"

She's short, dark hair and thoughtful eyes. She doesn't look scared or upset. She walks to the stage and glares at the camera. Her fists are also clenched and as she passes some of the previous tributes sitting in the front, they shudder and look around in confusion. I guess she's trying to keep her dignity as much as possible. She tosses her bangs back and crosses her arms, waiting for her male tribute.

Her male tribute is called.

"Ashton Oakley"

A tall boy, about 14 walks toward the stage. He's very tanned and has grey eyes. He keeps his eyes down and only steals a side glance at his District partner.

Once it's done, they both turns on their heels and walks into the Justice building together. I started to wonder if they knew each other, just like I knew Peeta in the District.

In District 8, Hannu Jommila, a thin, well-built boy with copper-tanned skin, thick muscles and brown eyes is chosen. His expression is neutral and he shoves his shaggy hair out of his face. He watches the audience as if trying to study them.

District 9, Milo Anchort, a tall, muscular boy with long hair and for some weird reason is bare foot. He seems to be extremely pleased with him being chosen. He really tries to ham it up for the cameras, shaking hands with the announcer and bumping his chest. He tries flashing his muscles for the girls around and his female associate rolls her eyes. I find myself giggling at his weird attitude. At least he tries to be happy about his predicament. He looks like he could be a deadly asset this year.

At District 10, a girl just like Prim, about twelve or thirteen years old with auburn, curly hair and a mousy demeanor is chosen, but she is replaced with a girl long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and blue eyes. She pats the young girl on the head and hugs her before heading to the stage. They're not family, as far as I can tell, but they seem to be close. The younger girl doesn't seem upset, she's even grinning slightly.

A similar situation plays out in District 11, only no one volunteers for the young twelve year old with dark skin and curly black hair. Her partner is a very strong, and very well built. He towers over everyone and just glares. He is also a dangerous and someone to avoid.

I finally turn off as District 12 replays. I pull my braid style out in front of the mirror and wipe the tears from my eyes.

_Pull yourself together Katniss. You promised._

No doubt that this year's Hunger Games would be difficult.

_You have no idea._


	3. Chapter 2: Burning Ambition

Katniss' POV

I wake up to Effie knocking on my door.

"Up, up, up. It's going to be a big, big day" she squeaks cheerily. Ugh, her happiness towards this whole thing makes my stomach turn.

I saunter out of bed and throw on some clothes. I find Haymitch drinking, but managing to keep a conversation with Peeta. Peeta offers me some hot chocolate which is so delicious that I want another. I sit down and grab anything within my reach, eating, knowing I'm going to need it. I never try to take food for granted.

"Got anything to share sweetheart?" Haymitch grumbles, trying to bring me into the conversation.

"About what?"

"Surviving of course," he says, taking another swig from his glass.

My mind goes to last night's re-runs.

"My best advice is to stay alive."

"Very funny," Peeta says angrily and goes for the glass in Haymitch's hand. The glass drops to the floor and shatters, splattering everything within distance with red wine. Haymitch punches Peeta in the jaw causing him to go flying. I react instinctively and drive my knife between Haymitch's hand and the bottle. I wait for him to counteract but he doesn't.

"Well, well, well, did I actually get some good fighters this year?" he asks.

Peeta grabs some ice from a bucket and holds it against his jaw.

"Let the bruise show, it'll make it seem like you know what you're doing."

"We're going to need it," I say. "I saw the tapes of the tributes this year. We've got some serious competition and not just the Careers, but in pretty much all the Districts."

"Am I sensing hesitation?" Haymitch asks.

"Hell no!" I say firmly.

"Show me what you got sweetheart."

I grab the knife from the table and get a handle on the blade. I toss it and it lands better than I thought it would. I do know how to throw knives, part of my hunting gear, but I prefer the bow.

Haymitch lines us up and examines us.

"I'll make you kids a deal. You don't interfere with my drinking; I'll stay sober enough to help you guys out. So I want no complaints about anything that you're gonna be put through in the next few hours. Got it?" He says, practically daring us to protest.

"Fine" Peeta says and I nod in agreement.

We pull into the station. Peeta and I stand next to each other by the window. I keep my lip buttoned and move away from the window, but Peeta flashes a smile and waves to the people in the crowd. It's like the Capitol's own little lap dogs, which I think was the intention before they put us against each other on live TV. I don't want to be a doll, but we promised Haymitch we'd tolerate whatever we're going to go through. He glances at my disapproving look and shrugs.

"One of them might be rich, half empty, " he says.

Haymitch comes up beside me a half-empty bottle of whiskey.

"You might want to follow his example; he's got the right idea."

The next few hours are very painful. My three preppies have been ridding my body of hair and skin in preparation for meeting my stylist. All of team are dressed bizarrely and mutter in their Capitol accents.

"Done!" one of them squeaks happily. I let out a sigh of relief and force a smile on my face.

"Thank you." I say with the best amount of sincerity that I can muster.

My prep team leave me in peace so I can collect my wits. I'm greasy, cold and hairless, not my ideal position to be in. We're going to be put parade tonight for the entire Capitol. The costumes are supposed to represent our district in someway and the costumes have been hideous or embarrassing.

My stylist, Cinna, seems normal and nice. He praises me for protecting my sister by volunteering for her. As we eat he tells me that he has a new idea for District 12 this year. He wants to do complementary costumes with an unforgettable twist.

"And what do we do with coal? We burn it."

I'm surprised but also happy that I won't be indecent or anything stupid.

"You're not afraid of fire are you Katniss?"


	4. Chapter 3: Not My Kind of Design

Christina's (Number Ten) POV

I fix my hair in the mirror. I'm fed up the Capitol already. I know why all seven of us, with the exception of Ella, are in the games this year. The Mogadorians are working with the Capitol in order to exterminate us. I'm sure President Snow thought this would be the best way to ally with the Mogs is by putting us in their Hunger Games. Little does Snow realize that as soon as all of us Lorics are gone, the Mogs will enslave the people more than they already have. Snow will most likely realize that his precious Panem will be reduced to nothing with the snap of Setrakus Ra's fingers. Not that people on this side of the globe realize that there's been a war raging on the other continents. A war of intergalactic proportions.

All eleven of us were brought to Earth when we young. Our planet, Lorien was destroyed by the Mogadorians only a handful of us and our Cepans made it off alive. When we landed, the humans that greeted us warned us to never move to Panem. Here we had free will and not be sentenced to death. Although we as kids, were physically superior to most humans we would not survive the games until our legacies came in. Even then, the risk of being discovered was too great to go anywhere near the dystopian society. All eleven of us have been hiding in Europe and all over the rest of world, with the exception of Panem, aka North America. There's been nothing, but corruption and oppression in Panem, while the rest of the world seems fairly civilized and normal. The other governments have not even dared to try and take over Panem because although humble on the outside, Snow is malicious and calculating with the threat of nuclear weapons and the lives of thousands of people who live in his world at his disposal. That is a man made of pure evil. The only person worse than him is Setrakus Ra himself.

It wasn't until that the first three of the Garde were attacked and nearly killed that we were low on options for places to run. We all lost our Cepans and we were left to find each other. We gained our legacies and human allies along the way, including my boyfriend Blake. We were finally making progress as a team until Setrakus Ra came to Earth

The eleven of us met up not long ago, but the Mogs came after us quite quickly. They threw just about everything they could after us, we were winning until Ra came after us himself. He cancelled all of our legacies and we knew we had to run. We barely escaped with our lives. As a consequence, we had to adapt new identities and split into the districts. I found it kind of funny that we picked our corresponding numbers, all except Ella, Three, and I. Three and Marina went to the 7th district together and Ella stayed with me. We decided at least two or more of us needed to stay together. It was only supposed to be temporary, but when the Mogs began hunting us in Panem, they joined with Snow and thought the best way to avoid a war was to kill us in the games. I could read the announcer's thoughts and he was instructed to say our names, no matter whose name he/she picked. Fortunately, Eight and John saw this ahead of time and we had come up with a proper plan.

Of course, Snow has no idea what we have planned or what we're capable of. We're going to use the Games as a way of rallying allies against the Mogadorians and start the rebellion to free these people from their oppression. If we can get some of the Tributes in these games too, if they don't kill each other first. I've seen the first two districts, there's no hope there, but the outer districts may want the chance to come out of this alive.

But until the games, we're stuck acting like the regular tributes and that includes being mentored by idiots and putting on these ugly costumes. I don't really understand what the point is dressing up in costumes and parading us around like show dogs. Our "mentors" tell us it's to gain sponsors, but with the eight of us, we can take care of ourselves. I'm District Ten so that means livestock The drunken stylist wants us dressed up like cowboys, but it makes me want to hurl. I want something more invigorating, less stupid and more creative. Fortunately, I have a great sense of style. I have a few hours until the parade and my stylist is too drunk to care what we do, so I decide to sneak down from the tower.

_Yo Six,_I tell her in my head.

_What's up Christina?_ she says.

_I need to use your invisibility to sneak down to the costumes._

_Yes, please, I look like the fricken moon, I need something better._

_Let's get the rest of the guys and redesign this crappy costumes._I say.

_On my way._

After 20 minutes or so, all of us, plus Adam have made it to the costume room.

"This is my Graceland." I say, and set up two mannequins, one for guys and one for girls.

I start with District 3, technology. The thing Adam has to wear is a silver cape and this ridiculous head dress made of gears or something.

"That is hideous", I say, trying not to laugh at Adam.

My mind begins to race as I see the materials all around me. I begin barking orders.

"Six, hand me some synthetic lighting."

"John, I need some black fabric."

Before long, I've completely stripped the ugly costumes and come up with a totally new design. I've created black synthetic jumpsuits that have trillions of little lights that reflect off the fabric. I also create a light up headband for the girl and matching necklaces that light up with the touch of a button.

"That's much better," Adam says.

Next is District 4, fishing. John shows me the design and I nearly start laughing.

"Eight, hand me something blue silk and Nine some fish netting."

"Sweet! Johnny's getting fish net stockings" Nine cheers.

John slugs Nine in the shoulder.

A bit of some stripping of the blue and a few pieces of netting.

"I hope, Sarah doesn't mind me showing off your chest," I say fitting John up.

I've created a new piece. I've fitted John with a trident chain over top a very thin fish netting muscle shirt and blue shorts that have fish-netting draped over one side of his hip. I fit him with brown sandals and a simple ring of small bubble beads. For the girl, I create a blue bikini style dress with fish netting around the stomach. I find a shell necklace and add bubble accessories to the hair.

"Much better" I grin.

District 5, power. Five, my twin brother tries on the design. All of us burst out laughing, he looks like a cross between a disco ball and a walking satellite dish. Just like in cartoons and coincidentally, a light bulb goes off in my head. I work with lighting again, but work with the silver that the designer has already started off. In te end, I created very dark grey suit for Five that lights up along the sides in line patterns, he basically looks like a power grid or a circuit board, with matching gloves and glasses. The girl's is similar only she has a glowing head band.

I move onto Six and District 6, transportation. She looks like the moon, don't ask me what the stylist was thinking, it's not related to the district at all. I dye some leather suits silver and have Marina, with the best artistic hand, create train tracks that I go over in thread. I fit Six with silver eyeliner and a light dusting of sparkles that makes her skin and eyes pop. I string her hair up with a leather headband and put on high heel boots. She now looks sassy and deadly at the same time.

Marina's District 7 is next, lumber. Her stylist had her dressed in a ruffled dress that I think was supposed to look like paper, but she looks like a giant paper mache sculpture. I go for the original tree idea. I fit her with brown boots that I have a machine stitch embroidered leaves along the sides. I have her in brown tights and a short brown skirt with a similar embroidery design. I fit her in a strapless top that hugs her curves and gradually goes green. I give her a nice leaf necklace and have a small crown of flowers to complete the outfit. I give her green eye shadow and create delicate patterns around her temples that represent a breeze . I apply some earthy tones that make her eyes pop out more and give her neutral lipstick. For Three, I dress him in brown boots and pants, with muscle shirt that I embroider with leaf designs. I add an axe necklace and a crown of leaves.

"Perfect," I say with a smile. He only returns a small grin I really try to be friendly to Three, he'd been living by himself for a long time and is especially timid around us. He sees his inexperience as a liability.

Eight shows me the outfit for District 8, textiles. He looks like a giant quilt with ugly complementary colours.

"Is you stylist colour blind?" I ask.

"Just might be," Eight grumbles.

I decide to show off Eight's bold muscle structure so I only design bottoms. I manage to find a bin of scrap cloth to use. I liked the idea using cloth, but not with ugly colours with matching hats. I use a machine that weaves the fabrics together so it looks less like quilt and more like a woven blanket. The colours complement each other and along the sides make the black thread look like stitching. I finish the outfit with Eight wearing a needle on a chain. For the girl, I create a matching dress with the assorted fabrics and she'll wear a matching headband and a thread spool necklace.

Nine is the last one before my own. District 9, grain. The hideous outfits are silver and I think are supposed to represent the factories or the combine harvesters. Regardless, I start from scratch. I use earthy/golden tons for Nine's pants and cut off the cuffs to give a rough, worn look. I have the machine embroider tufts of wheat. I think about giving him a straw hat, but I decide to let his hair go out. For the female, I give a golden/brown dress a go over to make it look rugged. I get the machine to do the same thing around the hem of the skirt. I also give Nine a tuft of wheat to suck on. I hope the audience likes the touch.

I have little time left for my own costume. I decide to keep the hat and boots, but get rid of the dorky ensemble that is supposed to complete the outfit. I decide to go really simple and wear a plaid tank top and very short jean skirt. For the boy, a plaid t-shirt and jeans. I add cow skin belts with the buckle in the shape of a bull.

"Now I feel better." I say, braiding my hair into pigtail style. "At least, we won't look like idiots."

"What are you going to tell your stylists?" Marina asks.

"Nothing, it'll be too late for them to change anything." I grin. If we need to be show dogs, we'll be damn good ones.

"We gotta hurry." John says. "We've got ten minutes till we need to be in the stables."

"Before we go..." Eight says. "Should we discus..." he stops and looks around. We are no doubt under surveillance. Why the Capitol let us break in here and remake our outfit, I'll never know. I guess if they thought that we had accepted our fate, we coul do whatever we wanted.

_How about we do it in a safer environment?_I suggest to them.

_I agree_ John says. _Let's go_

We all walk out of the fabric room, wearing our costumes proudly. We deliver the new designs to our counterparts and make last minute touches on make-up before heading out.

I don't care about what our stylists say or whine about, what I did is better than all of their ideas together. Anyways, they were not my kind of designs.


	5. Chapter 4: Tributes on Parade

Katniss' POV

"It's only synthetic fire, you'll be perfectly safe." Cinna re-assures us.

Peeta and I are in matching costumes, black unitards with leather boots. In a few moments before the doors open and the chariots take off, Cinna will torch our capes and my headdress. I'm really nervous about it and so is Peeta. We made an agreement that if we do start to burn, we'll rip each others' cape off.

Christina's (Number Ten) POV

The anthem begins and the first few chariots get ready to roll out. I look over at the others. The suits are lighting up properly for Adam and Five. John, Nine and Eight look buff enough to make all the girls go wild. Six and Marina look beautiful and I hope I look okay too. I fix my braids and suck in the stomach, maybe I can turn on a few boys tonight. I know my district tribute can't keep his eyes from wandering. I don't mind, but I do have a boyfriend.

Good to go? I ask the others.

Yep

Sure

I guess so

At least I don't look like a dork...

Time to get the ladies screaming

I roll my eyes. I look behind me and I see what the final districts have planned. For District 11, it's farm gear, overalls and silver crowns for some reason. In the back, I see the District 12 girl and guy being lit on fire. Genius idea. At least they have a decent stylist, maybe he can give me some tips about enhancing costume designs. I catch myself, realizing this will be the last Hunger Games if we have anything to say about it.

Our chariot begins to move and I'm hit with a wave of sound. The roars and screams of the crowd overwhelm my ears so much that I'd wished I'd worn earplugs. I can't even imagine what it'll be like for Nine. I look at myself on the giant TV screen showing the broadcast, I look alright, a bit sexy and stylish. I don't know whether to smile or not, so I give it a shot. I hear hoots from some boys as we go along the street. I hate being in larger crowds because it is overwhelming to hear everyone's thoughts. Nothing too interesting, but it never hurts to keep the mind open.

A louder roar comes from behind us. It must be District 12, the idea is so great that I have to talk to their stylist. I figure that at least the attentions not on us for now. Let them have their moment in the spotlight, they don't have legacies like we do to survive. Our chariot goes in front of President Snow's mansion. He steps to the podium and addresses the crowd. I try to lock eyes with him. I can tell he's getting death stares from all the Loric tributes. I try to focus in on his mind, what kind of crap are the Mogs putting him up to? I find hard to focus on the one mind, it's weird because I've never had issues focusing before. I squint hard and grab the edge of my chariot tightly. He gives a small speech about welcoming this year's tributes before the chariots move into the Training Centre. I keep my eye on him the entire time, but he walks away before our eyes can meet. This doesn't stop me from talking to him telepathically

Just you wait I tell him. You are going to regret everything.

I can't tell if he got the message or not.

We enter the building that'll house us until the Games begin. We're going to be training and stuff for the next few days, we'll be graded, we'll have interviews and a bunch of other crap before we actually get to the Games. This'll give us tonnes of time to think of a strategy together.

I hop out and realize that I squeezed the side of the chariot so hard that I took a chunk of it off. Sometimes I forget about my enhanced strength. I crunch it into little pieces and let them fall to the shiny, aluminum floor. I'm just glad nobody noticed. I wait for the stylist to start nagging to me for changing the designs, but I'm deaf enough right now that it won't bother me. I see the District 12 team cheering gleefully about their presentation. I have to admit, they look pretty great. I catch the eye of the blonde boy. I want to reach out with my telepathy, but I don't want him to freak out. He gives him a small smile. He returns the gesture. I read his thoughts and learn a little bit about him. Peeta Mellark, son of a baker and resident in District 12. He's cute, but he has eyes for his district partner, Katniss Everdeen. He wants to make sure that she lives through the games. I'd do the same thing for Blake if he was my district partner. Eventually, he's lost in the crowd of his team, but I make note of him and Katniss. They might be valuable allies and would like to walk out of here alive.

I hit the elevator button and head up on my own. I make my way to my room and pull my chest from its hiding place. The problem is I'm extremely paranoid about the cameras. This is the kind of society where everyone is watched.

Hey Snow, I think to myself. Instead of poking your unusually large nose in people's business, use the technology for something useful.

I know one thing I want to do before I call it a day. I pick up the phone.

"Please specify the District you wish to contact." a robotic voice says.

"Ten," I say into the mouthpiece.

"Name?"

"Blaze Mason."

"One moment please."

I tap my fingers impatiently. Blake grabs it on the second ring.

"Hi," I say.

"Hi, how are you?" It's so nice to hear his voice again. I haven't heard it since he came to say good-bye to me.

"Alright, I assume you and Ella saw us tonight?"

"Yeah, you guys looked great."

"Thanks, compliments of yours truly." I giggle with a grin.

"Which ones did you design?"

"Three to Ten."

"Impressive."

"Why thank you," I say, almost taking a bow.

"The other...tributes were begging me to change them."

The phones are most likely tapped so I have to pretend that I don't know the guys very well.

"Have you..."

"Yes, but not for long, " I say quickly.

Let's keep this short I say to him.

I would talk to him telepathically, but at a longer distance, it's harder.

"Would you like to talk to Ella?" he asks.

"Sure."

I hear the phone being handed off.

"Hi, big sister," Ella says. That's part of the disguise is that Ella is my sister and I'm allowed to raise her because our parents are dead.

"Hi," I say, also happy to hear her voice too.

"I saw you on the TV. I can't believe you designed those."

"Wasn't easy, took a lot of time."

"How are...is..." She stops short remembering what's going on.

"It's good," I say, covering for her. "You might want to...you know, talk about it."

"Is the food any good? I want to know if I'm missing anything...delicious." That's code for the plan and if we've made any progress.

"It's alright," I say. "I did have some undercooked chicken." Translation: The plan is not quite ready. "But I'm sure it won't happen again."

"I want to thank you for taking my place." She says.

"You're my sister, you have a future ahead of you," I say.

In actuality, Ella wanted to go into the games with the others, but we'd agreed the night before is that we need someone to be able to communicate on both sides. Our best hope is that Ella and the others can find a way to screw up the games so we can escape and find Setrakus Ra. She's still young, but she can kick some serious butt. She was the one who managed to weaken Setrakus Ra so that we could escape. I know that she can hold her own.

"Anything happen at school?" I say. Code for how is the legacy and combat training going.

"Good. I had to give a report today about agricultural meat processing, so nothing too interesting." Code: We haven't been caught training yet.

I feel I've had a long enough conversation, any longer someone might catch on to our code.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," I say.

"Good luck with training," Ella says before handing the phone back to Blake.

"She misses you and so do I."

"I miss you too but, hey I just might win."

Blake snorts at the other end. I try not to smile myself. If it were to happen. All of us Loric could take out the tributes on the first day if we had to, but we don't murder the innocent. That's the Capitol's job.

"I love you," I say.

"I love you too."

"Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Okay." and I hang up.

I strip from my costume and change into something more comfortable. I stare at myself in the mirror. I rub my hand against my ankle to make sure it's still there. My pendant. It was the best hiding spot I could think of. I really feel like I should be wearing it with pride on my chest, but for the sake of cover right now, this is where it'll stay.

I eat with the others, not saying a thing and then hope into bed to watch the recap of the chariot rides. The District 12 kids steal the show. Good for them, they deserve some recognition.

I watch the city lights for awhile until I'm sure that everyone must be asleep by now. Everyone except... We need a safe place to meet, out of sight and mind. A place not under surveillance for the time we need. We can't leave the place because of the cameras and we're basically prisoners until the games. My brain starts clicking, maybe instead of under, we need to go over.

I reach out with my telepathy.

Roof now.


	6. Chapter 5: Strategy

I hear from Christina after everyone's in bed. This is what I've been waiting for. I hope out of bed and go for the windows. I shine my Lumen upwards towards the sky. I'm only on the fourth floor, this is going to be difficult. Six is able to turn invisible, Five can fly, Nine has anti-gravity, so does Three and Eight can teleport. They have the useful legacies for stealth. My hands light up like a lighthouse beacon, it's a more offensive weapon.

The wind is blowing in my face and hair as I figure out a way to get up there. The lights and sounds of the city below feel out of place. Sarah and I had grown accustomed to the sounds of the waves and the occasional caw of the seagulls. We'd often take long walks on the beach together, watching the sunset before having to go in for curfew. It really killed the romantic mood. There are too many restrictions in this society. I just hate that we had to go into hiding again. Henri had always been told to stay away from Panem and now here we are. Right smack in the heart of a corrupt society and in the middle of their games no less. At least not all of us were chosen in the draw. I'm glad Sarah, Sam, Mark, Ella, One, Two and Three were spared. One of the reasons why was One and Two came over from Europe the day of the reaping. They stayed behind after our escape to monitor the Mogs' movements. I think they're in the Capitol by now, but so far nothing. I usually rely on Christina or Ella with their telepathy. I know for sure that we can't use the phones because they are tapped by the guards or the president himself. Knowing the Mogs, they are always watching.

I don't think I've felt more violated than coming to this country. There are cameras everywhere and bugs all over the place. They even have a TV show about kids killing each other. It's a twisted form of entertainment. I don't think there is a place that has a decent amount of privacy, but Christina seems to think that we can make some progress on this plan. When we get out of here, I will never ever take alone time for granted, especially with Sarah.

"John" a voice comes out of nowhere. I hadn't realized that Eight had teleported into the room.

"Hey." I say casually. "How's it going."

"Alright."

"How's your range here?"

"Pretty good. We just need to grab Adam on our way up."

"Sounds good." I take Eight's hand. Everything becomes black for a moment. Next thing I see is a dark room one floor down. Th only light is what's coming from the streets below. My head begins to throb a bit. Teleportation does not agree with me or the other Garde who aren't used to it. I let my eyes adjust before I try to use my Lumen. If we ended up somewhere other than Adam's room, I don't want to startle anyone or give away our legacies.

"Adam" I hiss into the darkness.

Nothing.

"Come on Adam we have to..."

Still nothing.

"Where could he be?" Eight says under his breath.

I turn my Lumen on and do a quick sweep of the room. Nobody within a hundred feet.

"Did we land in the right area?"

"I think so, maybe I overshot."

We hear a noise behind us. I shut off my Lumen and we decide to see if the person will just go away. I squeeze Eight's hand.

"Who the hell is here?! You better watch out! I will kick your..."

"Cato! Why can't you shut up? You need to surprise the burglar!"

"Shut it Clove!"

"Why are we even here? So you heard a noise, maybe it was an Avox."

"I heard voices you dumb-!" This guy, Cato starts swearing like you wouldn't believe.

"You're imagining things you diot. You're such a-." Clove begins to return the favour.

_Eight_. I think to him. _Get us the hell out of here!_

I squeeze Eight's hand hard. We go into a darkened state, my stomach becomes weak and I feel the ground disappear, that's how I know we're safe. My breath catches in my throat and I see a bright light. We're in a brightly lit room now. I'm relieved to see Adam sitting on his bed messing around with some kind of machinery.

"What took you so long?" Adam asks.

"We got sidetracked, I didn't estimate the distance properly." Eight explains.

"Alright."

"What the hell is that?" I ask, looking at the mass of wires and assorted junk on his bed.

"I'll explain in a bit." Adam says grabbing Eight's hand.

There's darkness again and then I feel fresh air and see city lights. I let out a sigh of relief. I let go of Eight's hand and stretch out. I light up my Lumen and see human shapes on the other side of some dome. The three of us walk around the dome and see the others sitting by what seems to be a smal rooftop garden. It's the first natural thing I've seen since we came to the Capitol. There are some nice flower beds, shrubs and a trillion windchimes blowing in the wind. This is the perfect cover, except for the annoying tinkling of the chimes. I do a quick scan to make sure everyone's here.

"Sorry we're late, we had an issue with the teleportation." I explain.

"Let's get started... We're about to be sent into a death arena by the president who is no doubt in contact with the Mogs."

"Killing each other while it's being broadcast to the entire country." Adam mutters. "The pillars of this society is built on their pass times."

"No doubt every Mog will be tuned in." I grimace.

"That's garbage! We've had enough of their BS, we need to attack now." Nine says slamming his fist against the roof. "We've played their game, why can't we wreak havoc on Sir Pasty face and his white faced army?"

"There's still a threat. Sarah, Sam, Mark, Blake and Ella are still vulnerable being in the disricts." Christina says. "One word from Snow and they're shot down in the streets. Ella could take them, but numbers could overwhelm them."

"They wouldn't kill them until we're dead. They'd probably hold them captive to force us into the games."

"That's why we need to strike now!" Nine says.

"That's going to be a problem..." Three says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I've seen something in the future. I don't know if its a legacy or not, but I have this forboding feeling that if we attack, the Mogs will invade. Millions will die."

"You sure?" Christina asks.

"Positive. I...I'm thinking... we need to go into the games." Three says.

"Hell no!" Nine barks. "Why should we listen to hobbit here?"

"Can it Nine!" Christina barks."I thought that was your nickname for Five."

"He's Frodo, Five's Bilbo."

Five turns his fist silver and charges.

"Five don't!" Christina says, stepping between him.

"No come on, Bilbo bring it!" Nine challenges eagerly. He pounds his fist against the roof again.

"Stop It!" Marina says. "There's going to be enough killing without you two."

"Spoken by the chick who took my eye." Five hisses.

"You tried to kill Eight."

"ENOUGH!"

We look over at Christina.

"I will not have you kill my brother!"

"You can't play that card everytime" Nine hisses. "He needs to pay."

"Can't you see what's going on?" she says. "It's already happening. Setrakus knows what's going to happen. We're going to turn on each other in the games and do exactly what he wants. We can't let that happen."

She turns to Five.

"Aruvun...you're better than this."

I know Christina means business when she uses Five's real name, their father's name no less. I know I need to be on Christina's side. She's the voice of reason in the group. She sees the good in people, especially Five. She pulls

"Christina's right, we're not sinking to the level of the tributes of District 2. You've seen them they're vicious minded. We need a better plan. Something that saves as many lives as possible and keeps Sarah and the others safe."

"Great Johnny, just how in the hell are we going to do that?"

"I never said it would be easy Nine."


	7. Chapter 6: Training for Ten

Number Three's POV

I'm lying in bed, unable to sleep. After the meeting on the roof, we were supposed to go back to our beds and get some rest, but I can't. It's certainly not the bed, it's as comfortable as could be. I could even press a button and it would massage my back, but I don't like it. I should be sleeping like a baby, but I'm used to flat mats out in Kenya, for the longest time, woven mats were my only possession along with my chest and extra supplies. I've grown accustomed to sleeping only on Mother Earth herself. It's also good for your back. Despite living in "civilization" again, I feel out of place. My Cepan, he went by Kai, always told me that the best way to stay hidden was out of sight and out of mind. My only friends were him and the animals we would encounter. So when he died, I continued the custom.

I lived off the land until it was time for all eleven of us to come together. I had been isolated for so long that it was hard to adjust to the others. I found out that Five lived like me for awhile until his Cepan died and allowed him to re-join society, but I didn't. Since I was almost caught and killed by the Mogs, I knew my face would be recognizable on any camera or device which in turn made me easier to track than the others so I steered clear of populated areas. That was my key to survival, but now being thrown into the middle of a giant city with all the noises and people, strangely dressed people no less, it's all a bit overwhelming.

I feel like the weak link in the group. I'm the odd duck in a flock of swans, all the others have had experience fighting with Mogadorians, some have even been held captive for periods of time. They're techniques are often flawless and strong. I know that it's mostly because they've trained longer than me, but I still feel left out. I was constantly on the run, so I never really had the chance to take the time and train properly. I never stayed in one place for more than a day, knowing the Mogs would be tracking me. On top of that my legacies came later than most, and even now I don't really understand them. The one where I have dreams and gut feelings only seems to warn me of potential danger. I have telekinesis like the others and I share anti-gravity with Nine. Other than that, I don't have any more legacies. John is usually sympathetic, saying that he though his Lumen was useless until he realized that he can create fire and use it as a weapon. Marina said the same thing with her healing, the icy feeling she had turned into Cryokinesis. The only person I could truly relate with was Ella, she's younger than the rest of us and she's still waiting on her legacies too. She only has telepathy and her object charge thing that we're not really sure what it fully does yet.

I'm also really out of shape, I can hold my own, but I'm no where near as strong as Six or Nine. At least Marina is pretty sympathetic. She told me her story about how she was trapped in Spain for the longest time because her Cepan had given up and refused to train her. She felt insignificant and when she met up with the others, her self-esteem took a few blows. Marina assures me that I would find my inner strength. There would be a time of extreme emotional distress, and that was in when Eight was almost killed and she took out Five's eye. I've been waiting patiently for that moment, but so far nothing.

I decide to reach out to Christina, wondering if she's awake.

_Christina?_

_Yeah Three, what's up?_

_Nothing, I can't sleep._

_Join the club brother._

_Do you really think this plan will work?_

_If your visions/premonitions are true then we put millions of lives at risk by starting the war now._

_So you believe me? Nine sure doesn't_

_Don't you ever learn? Take Nine's words with a grain of salt._

_Trying..._

_He takes some getting used to._

_So I've been told._

_How are you? _She asks gently.

_Alright._

_Are you sure? _You can't fool a mind reader.

_Can't fool you huh?_

_Nope, what's bothering you?_

_Legacies, our purpose, my use...the usual_

_Just remember what we told you, legacies come when you need them most._

_I know that, but you guys have all these cool abilities. I mean Six can turn invisible, Eight can shape shift, John and his Lumen._

_Your time will come. I haven't gotten a legacy in a while._

_But you have a legacy that makes you unique, that Externa._

_I share that with my twin brother._

_Right, but mind reading..._

_I share that with Ella_

_The impenetrable skin_

_I'm sure someone will get that too_

_But still.._

_Legacies take time Three, Two is just like you, she doesn't really have legacies yet._

_I know..._

Something pops into my head.

_Why did you trust my instincts about competing in the games?_

_Because I' ve had foreboding emotions and visions like you. I thought I was crazy, but it warned me about my brother switching sides and Setrakus Ra's arrival on Earth. They're not so useless after all, they serve a purpose like all our legacies._

_I guess not, but right now it's pretty useless._

_Don't say that Three, you'll learn and develop it like all of us._

_Like you said it takes time. Maybe this Game training will bring some legacies to the surface._

_Maybe, anyways you're the survivalist, you have skills none of us have. You can hunt and track among other things._

_I guess your right._

_Try to get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of us._

_Okay, good night_

_Night Three._

With that the connection breaks off, like hanging up on a phone call. Christina has made me feel better, but things still linger in my mind. I get up and lie on the floor with my blanket. I feel a bit comfortable, just enough to sleep.

I see fire. Flames licking the buildings of the Capitol and surrounding districts. I'm floating above the scenes of chaos and death. I see thousands of people screaming and dropping dead in the streets. I can see the Mogadorian space crafts coming from the sky, spreading the flames everywhere. I'm forced down into the streets. I see two little children running past me screaming their heads off. They're dressed as Capitol people would be, but covered in ash and blood. Two Mogadorian follow them with their guns raised, I try to stop them with my telekinesis, but they pass through me. I'm only the ghost in a vision. A few more building become bathed in fire and collapse on top of citizens. I try to run away from everything but I'm surrounded by death.

I awake on the floor, sweating like crazy. I'm suffocating in this hot air. I go for the window and press. I can't find the knob to open this thing, but at this point I'm desperate. I use my telekinesis and shatter the glass. The fresh city air rushes in and I can breath again. I don't care if I've triggered some kind of alarm, I was going to die before I even got into the arena.

I hear noises behind me. I turn to see Marina staring at me. I feel a harsh chill surrounding her.

"You okay? I thought the Mogs might've tried to pick us off" she asks.

"Yeah, I just needed air."

"Okay good."

I turn on the lamp device next to my bed and I get a good look at Marina. She's sweating too, more than I was. Her hair's all out of place and her clothes are really messed up. I thought she might be having bad dreams like me. She seems embarrassed to be appearing in front of me in her pajamas.

"Good, good although the landlord won't thank you..." The cold seems to fade, meaning she's relaxing.

"S-see you tomorrow." she says, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Night" I say waving.

The next morning I toss on the uniform for training. Our female mentor, I can't remember her name, but she is seriously edgy, is waiting for Marina and I at breakfast.

"Listen up!" she says as Marina grabs a banana and I grab a pomegranate. It tastes like home to me and all Marina and I have been eating in the district is what we can salvage from dumpsters and so on.

"I want you girls to show the judges what you've got if you have anything at all. What can you do?"

Marina bites her lip and gazes at me. She has no idea what we can do. I squeeze the pomegranate slightly and let the juices run through my fingers and down my arms.

I decide to speak. "I know how to survive on my own. I know what you can eat and stuff."

"Pathetic, but reasonable, that means you need to build up the fighting skills do you know how to throw an ax or anything sharp?"

I bite my lip and nod.

"What about you sweetie?" she asks.

I can feel the cold radiating off Marina, our mentor has seriously ticked her off. I notice a glass nearby is starting glaze over in frost. I grab her hand under the table and give it a squeeze. Her hands are frigid, almost hard to hold.

But our mentor isn't pleased with us, but still doesn't notice the chill.

"Do you have any skills besides screwing around with the other tributes?"

Marina's face goes bright red and the cold gets stronger. I realize what happened last night, it didn't dawn on me that her messed up appearance meant something other than stressful dreams.

"That's right, the walls aren't soundproof sweetheart. You realize that he'll probably kill you next week. Sex will not get you sponsors." Our mentor begins calling Marina various names that I don't want to repeat. Marina's hand begin to shake and the cold gets stronger than ever. My hand begins to sting as the ice spreads further and further around us. The juice on my arm is stiff like a Popsicle and I can see the tears streaming down her face. I was wondering if the tears will freeze to her face.

"You have no right to call her that!" I say, ready to stand up to her. I squeeze Marina's hand again, this time, it was re-assuring.

"Oh boo hoo, the little **** can cry, but those tributes will not take pity on you. You can't sleep with all of them in exchange for your life."

Marina jolts upwards and grabs a knife from the table. I barely have time to try and grab the weapon, when she pitches it at our mentor. I want to use my telekinesis to stop it, but this will blow our cover for sure. Our mentor doesn't skip a beat, she ducks and the knife sticks into the wall. Marina is panting, fighting back the rest of the tears. The cold is extremely intense, but I fight through it. Our mentor smirks at us.

"That's what I want!" She says, exasperated. "I want you two to fight! If you can sleep with some of the tributes, seduce them, do that on your own time, but I want you two to fight! Stay together, don't go get drawn in by the alliances, they'll turn on you as soon as the chips are down. Now get out of here."

Marina pushes up from the table and I follow her. She lets the door slam extra hard on her way out. We ride the elevator down together. The cold has subsided finally and Marina lets out a breath. I rub my hand, trying to bring the circulation back.

"Sorry about that," Marina says with embarrassment. "She just really pushed my buttons."

"It's fine," I say. "But you just need to keep it in check, she's not a Mog."

"Sure as hell acts like one" Marina mutters as we reach the gymnasium.

We step off and see the others among the tributes. They all have numbers pinned to their backs and someone comes up and does the same for us. John looks over at me and nods. Christina has her hair pulled back in her ponytail and she smiles at me. I scan the other tribute's faces.

My heart stops. My eyes land on a beautiful girl. She has her blonde hair pulled into two braids. Her eyes are a beautiful emerald green. I've never felt like this before. My heart beats really quickly and my face becomes hot. I pull my stomach in and try to appear taller. I can't stop staring at her. I think at some point she feels my eyes on her. She moves those spheres of green purity in my direction. My breath catches in my throat and my eyes widen. I give her a small awkward smile. She looks at me with a slight glare, as if confused as to why I'm trying to be friendly. Her eyes soften for a brief second before she looks away. That does not seem like a good sign.

A very tall, athletic woman named Atala steps up and begins to read out the stations. There are three mandatory exercises that we will have to complete together and the rest are open to all of us. There are survival stations and ones that teach fighting techniques. I know I need to stop by them. Even with my legacies, I don't have any experience with weapons besides spears for hunting.

Once Atala finishes we're free to roam the gym.

"Where do you want to go first?" I ask Marina. She shrugs

The District 12 tributes head for the knot tying station. The District 1 and 2 head for the weapons area. John heads for the fire starting. He wants to be with his natural element, but he can start a fire with his bare hands. I don't even know why he's bothering to start there. Christina and her district partner head for the ropes course. Eight and Nine go for the wrestling station. Six goes for the hand to hand combat station and Adam goes for the shelter making. I decide that the edible plants station will be easy enough for me so I start heading in that direction and Marina follows. The instructor there is really nice and is impressed by my knowledge. I think I even teach him a few things too. Marina watches quietly and learns what's safe to eat and so on. I can't help, but once in a while stare over at the District 1 girl at the spear station. Her outfit extenuates her curves and makes her look strong and fit.

Christina's (Number Ten) POV

I promised our mentor that we'd stick together. I've started to warm up to my district partner. He's no fighter, but he's willing to learn. I jog over to the rope climbing station and start scrambling up. The boy, who I've come to know as Antonio, follows behind me. With my strength, I easily master the rope wall that leads to the overhanging area. I sit on the support bar and watch the others. Nine and Eight are trying to pin their instructors since they are not allowed to wrestle each other. My brother is at the knives throwing station with the District 2 girl, Clove. Six is constantly overtaking the trainer at the hand to hand station. This is just her warm up, though, she's the strongest of all of us and a far greater warrior than I think anyone expected. I see the Gamemakers watching her with impressed eyes. John's at the fire starting station, but I warn him about playing with the fire too much. I'm unsure about whether the Gamemakers are aware of what we are, but I seriously doubt it by the way they are drinking and enjoying themselves. Anyone who was under Mog rule would be tenser. Three and Marina are at the edible plants station and Adam at the shelter making. I swing my legs up and begin stretching like a ballet dancer would against the bar.

Antonio had more trouble than I thought he would climbing to my level. He keeps getting his foot tangled and I notice why. His left knee is slightly out of joint. I think it must've been some kind of accident that left his knee extremely weak and disjointed.

"Here," I say offering my hand out to him. He hesitates, questioning my friendly personae.

"It's okay," I say. "I don't plan on killing you."

Antonio grimaces slightly, obviously not pleased with my joke.

"Chill out, I'm kidding," I say. I don't plan on killing anyone, just Mogs. I begin stretching again. Antonio comes up to join me. He massages his knee, I'm sure Marina could fix it, but we still need to keep a low profile.

"You don't have to be afraid of m," I say softly. "We're allies."

"For how long? You know how this crap works, you're allied until someone gets a knife in the back."

I can tell he's afraid of dying. I think we all are, but he has a little sister, about six or seven, back home who cried and cried when he was chosen. She refused to let go of him until a Peacekeeper ripped her away. It reminds me of Anali, our sister, although my brother, Aruvun, never met her. I had to be pried away from her, separated forever. It's the same with Antonio, the only difference is his should have never happened. It's Snow that is to blame for everything. He's the reason Panem is the way it is, force children against each other in a fight to the death. The thought makes me want to vomit. I start to wonder if the president is part Mog, he's like a snake with a sick way of enforcing power. He doesn't destroy the planet like Ra, what he does is a lot worse. (In a way).

"Come on," I say.

I can tell the Gamemakers are eyeing us. I decide to impress them. I lower myself on the over hanging ropes and climb on them like a spider. Once I'm in the middle, I let go with my hands, hanging there like a kid on a monkey bars. The entire area is upside down. I grab up at the ropes and pull my legs through. I hang there for a second and then I pull a triple somersault in mid-air before landing on the mats below. I stand up straight and fix my ponytail. I can see half the judges staring at my performance. Even Antonio is impressed.

"Come on," I say.

"No way," he gulps. Poor kid's afraid of heights.

"Alright, well then climb down."

I decide to a bit more warming up. I do two back springs and a reverse roll. I do a cartwheel and a full splits to stretch out a bit more. I just wish there were some gymnastics bars here, they were my strongest skill when I was younger. My Cepan allowed me to do gymnastics to keep my agility up. I could've been the star athlete if it didn't blow my cover as a "normal" girl. Hopefully, my remembered skills will help me gain sponsors.

Antonio has finally joined me on solid ground and I decide we could brush up on shelter making. Antonio follows me like a lost puppy, and I start to wonder if he would join us in our war. I stare at his crooked knee for th longest time. We haven't gone to fighting station yet, but I'm wondering if he can do anything valuable.

We'll just have to wait.


	8. Chapter 7: Playing With Knives

Number Five's POV

I hurtle the weapon forward blade first. It hits the shoulder of a dummy about 50 feet in front of me.

"Damn it!" I hiss angrily. It's not the kill shot I wanted. That shot would only wound, I want death! My training with the Mogs was with stuff what I was good at, my legacies. The things that made me powerful and to be feared, but we still have to keep a low profile according to John... Our great leader. I don't even know why I'm bothering to stay in with the group. They don't trust me, after what I did to Eight, Nine and Six, but that doesn't do justice to what Marina did in return. I think the only reason I'm staying is because my sister trusts me and uses our dead baby sister, Anali against me. She believes family is important and we need to save Lorien in honour of her and our family, even though it was broken/divided. I got the full family history from a letter that her Cepan wrote to her. I guess Albert was too sick and dying to even bother to tell me that I had a sister, let alone a twin.

I rub the sweat from my good eye and re-adjust my patch. It's the one thing that I hate about missing an essential optical lens, everyone views it as a weakness. I can't see what's beside me. I'm also considered a freak, everyone . When I first came down to the gym, the tiny girl from District 11 couldn't stop staring at it. My freaky, ginger district partner also couldn't stop staring at it, but my death glare caused her to look away. I guess the benefit of having one eye is that it makes me look menacing and mean.

I grab another batch of knives and begin pitching them out of anger. I don't even care if I hit the target anymore. I let all the anger flow through me and empower me, like the Mogs taught me to. Anger is power and it is my greatest asset. I manage to hit the dummy straight in the forehead and another time in the heart.

I hear a snort. I look beside me and see the District 2 female tribute laughing at me. Her long black hair is pulled back in some kind of complicated ponytail and her eyes are brown. She's a lot shorter than me, but she looks pretty strong for her age.

"Do you have anything better to do?" I growl.

"Not really jerk?!" she smirks. "I'm just enjoying you make a huge idiot of yourself."

"You really shouldn't tick off someone holding sharp object." I mutter and pitch the last knife at the dummy. It skewers the abdomen.

"I'm definitely not scared of a one-eyed miss hap. Your aim is as bad a your insults."

"And I assume you could do better?"

"Are you kidding?" she says raising her eyebrow. She grabs a few knives and begins to throw. Unlike me, she takes careful aim with her shots. She manages to hit a dummy in the heart, twice in the forehead.

"That is how it's done" she sniffs, acting like an obnoxious show-off.

I grab another knife and this time I decide to use my telekinesis. I aim for the heart. I hurtle it forwards and keep my hand out in front of me to keep it on course. I push forward with my mind. The knife pierces the dummy's heart, so hard that it tears right through the first dummy and hits the one behind it.

"No," I snort. "That is how its done"

"Lucky shot" she growls.

The girl glares at me. She grabs another knife and pitches it at another dummy. It hits it in the temple. I follow suit and I hit the dummy directly in the eye. She lets out a frustrated hiss and grabs two knives. She hits another dummy in the neck, right where the jugular vein is and the second into a knee.

"Bit of over kill" I grin.

"Look who's talking" she growls. I take another knife and show her up again, hitting the dummy in the neck, twice.

I've never been so motivated. Showing her up was exciting to me. My heart is beating like crazy, this girl is special...I guess. I can feel my body growing warmer with every throw. This girl is gutsy and strong. She's got a sharp edge, sharper than the knives she's able to throw.

By the time we run out of knives, I'm sweating and so is she. Her ponytail is now a huge mess, but she still looks pretty.

"You're pretty good." I say, brushing my sweaty palms on my pants.

"I know" she says. I can tell she wants to compliment me, but needs to keep her tough image. I grin at her. She's avoiding my eyes as she walks towards the dummy to pluck the knives out. I follow suit.

"How long have you been training?" I ask. I know about the Career tributes and how they train for years before they volunteer in the Games, apparently its against the rules, but in society like this, what are the rules?

"Eight years" she mutters.

"Impressive" and I am impressed. The dedication and commitment to death games, where there is only a very slim chance you walk out of there alive, but in a way the odds are in your favour if you're prepared.

"Thanks" she says. I polish the blades of a few of the knives on my shirt.

"Maybe you could give me a few tips?" I suggest gently. When the words escape my lips, my heartbeat rate increased. I've never felt like this before, but I like it, sort of.

She hesitates and throws a knife before she answers.

"You know I'm going to have to kill you right?"

"Does it matter? If we came face to face with blades you'd win" I say, she doesn't scare me and if the chips were down, I'd beat her, but would it hurt if I spend time with her?

She tilts her head slightly and squints at me as if she's trying to figure me out. I flash her a slight smirk, but she raises her eyebrow.

"I don't know..." she says. "If we came face to face, you'd put up fight. The way you pierced that dummy..."

I take it as compliment, it's pretty awkward for her I can tell. I smirk at her again, she glares at first, but then rolled her eyes. That's when the lunch bell rang, she turns on her heels and leaves. I watch her walk away and my heart races again. Now I know how I feel and I like it!

I serve myself with some stew and sit at a table on my own. The Career tributes sit together in the middle of the room, to show their superiority. When John enters, the larger tribute from District 2 invites him to sit with them.

"Yo, what's your name...Smith, there's room for you at the winners table."

John hesitates, but decides it's okay, at least for now. He sits next to the girl from District 1 and eats in silence. The boy from District 1 begins a long boring lecture about spears and what he's able to do with them and I can't help, but feel a twinge of envy that John's with the "popular" crowd. I feel pretty stupid after that, this feels a lot like a high school cafeteria. Then again, I never went to a high school, but it doesn't sound like much fun. Sam Goode told me he was bullied by Mark James and One had her fair share of alienation in the public school system, being bullied to the point that she punched a cheerleader in the nose and getting expelled. It honestly sounds like crap and something I was glad I didn't have to deal with. The others wasted their time with useless facts and trying to blend in, while the Mogs were training me become powerful and useful.

My sister takes a seat next to me. I hardly look at her until she reaches out and tries to grab my hand. I'm not fond of the contact, but I tolerate it. Christina/Aralia has really been trying to mend the rift between me and the Garde and I know the only reason Nine doesn't have his hands around my throat is because of her. She really wants us to re-connect, create a closeness that we were deprived of as children. She told me that she had visions about me when I switched sides and flashbacks of our childhood. Frankly, I'm not the close and personal type, but I do appreciate her effort. At least, someone cares about me and has tried not kill me since the Garde were reunited.

I keep staring sideways, trying to catch a glimpse of the girl with the knives. Something about her just has my heart racing and my mind clouding over. She's not trying to be pretty like the other Career girl or wimpy like my district partner, she's tough and knows it. She's a driven tribute.

Christina glances at me and then at where I'm staring. I can't fool her, she can tell who I'm thinking about.

_Her name is..._

_STOP IT! _I snap at her in head_. I want to get to know her on my own, no legacies._

She's surprised at first by my insistence, but then smiles. It's how she feels when she first met her human boyfriend, what's his name.

_Blake_

_Thanks_... and I roll my eyes. Sometimes her mind reading legacy gets on my nerves, you can never reflect on your own without it been broadcast to her. It invades my last piece of privacy.

_It's not exactly a picnic for me either _she argues back.

"Leave me alone" I say through gritted teeth

We're definitely bickering like siblings.

Once lunch is done, we have another four hours to do some more survival and fighting skills. I go back to the knives station and wait for the girl. It takes a little while, but she comes.

"Alright Knives, got any tips?"

"Don't call me that and sure... your posture is all wrong. If you want to hit something properly, you need to turn on an angle and use your opposite hand as a way of aiming." She demonstrates and she hits the dummy in the thigh. She looks surprised. Her face turns red in anger and embarrassment.

"Nice shot" I say.

"Shut up!"

She shoots me glare and grabs another. She opens the catch and hurtles it again. Again she doesn't get her desired result.

"Why is this happening?!" she growls. She tries the same thing and this time misses the dummy completely.

"Here" I say, pointing out her mistake. I walk up to her and put my hand on her arm. She immediately jerks away.

"Don't touch me!" she hisses.

"Hey I'm just trying to..."

"I don't need your help smart guy" she growls.

"Here" I say grabbing her arm. She resists at first, but I soften my touch. I hold her close, my heart going wild. A warm sensation spreads throughout my body as I direct her arm properly. I can't tell if she likes what I'm showing her, but her resistance is less.

"Just try to follow through, don't jolt your arm back as quickly after." I bring her arm back and we throw it together. The knife sinks itself into the dummy's chest.

"We did it!" she says in almost like a squeal. She turns back to me and gives me a large smile. "Thank you!"

"I was just watching what you were doing before Knives and enhanced it." I say modestly

"Let's do it again!" she says with delight.

We grab another knife and hit the dummy in the forehead.

"Kill shot!" I say pumping my fist in the air.

"Let's aim for the eye."

"Anything you say Knives."

We go through another set of knives before we realize that we've been holding hands the entire time. Knives slips her hand out subtly and picks up another blade. She pitches it before she looks at me.

"What happened to your eye anyways?" she asks.

I turn my face away to hide my

"Come on, I don't hate it. I think it's bad-ass...honestly." she says encouragingly.

She reaches out and turns my face towards her. Her hand traces my eye patch gently and her nail flips up the fabric. She can probably see the ugly scar surrounding my empty eye socket. When Marina hit me, she hit me hard she could've killed me with one more shot of ice. Of course I can't tell Knives what happen so I make something up.

"Some... Peacekeeper didn't like me. I stole some food and tried to run. He took a pistol and shot to wound, but his aim was crappy. I was in the hospital for months and they couldn't save my eye, but eventually I recovered."

"That must've sucked" she says.

"It did, but I deserved it in the end"

She traces my eye socket for a second and then flicks the flap down.

"You probably did, you're pretty tough with a weapon, I'd consider you a threat."

"But for food?"

"Uncalled for."

"Come on Knives, lets get some more practice in."

We finish the session with the dummies pretty cut up. I'm really satisfied, all I wanted to do was master a decent fighting skill without the legacies, but I found something more. She's the first person I actually like by choice and she's actually someone I can relate to on a personal level. She's also a worthy opponent, she can hold her own and then some. The trainer allows us to start heading over to the elevator, saying he'll clean up, and we trail after the other tributes. We wait for the elevator together, but once we hit the separate buttons we realize that it'll be time to say good-bye... for now.

"This..." I hesitate, rolling the words on my tongue. "was fun"

"Yeah..." she says. I can feel the awkward between us.

"We should meet up tomorrow and like... do it again?"

She looks at me quizzically for a second. The elevator reaches her floor and the doors open.

"Uh...sure!" she says. "See ya"

"Sure" Something pops into my head just as the doors are shutting. "Wait!"

She jams her hand to stop the doors.

"What?"

"I didn't catch your name Knives... I'm Bolt"

"Clove"


	9. Chapter 8: Love is a Dangerous Games

Marina's (Number Seven) POV

I sit by the window and stare at the city. It looks really beautiful at night, the lights illuminating the infinite black void. I see the lights as stars, each one twinkling, each one a planet that needs to be explored. I really want to know which star or constellation is Lorien...our real home. But I know that with the city lights, you can't see the actual stars. It's sad in a way, I liked staring at the stars, I could even miss the view from the convent. The lights of the tiny town and the infinite diamonds beyond the mountains.

I just wish I was out there enjoying it. I wonder if they had a park that Eight and I could walk through, maybe a lake that we could walk along together. The fresh air, not a care in the world. Of course I'm only dreaming. We're stuck here until we're dropped in the death arena. I really want to get out. The only place where we have a little bit of fresh air and freedom is the roof, but even then, Nine say's there's a force field that throws you back on the roof. It really didn't take a genius to figure out how he figured that out. I start to wonder if he's turned it some kind of game, jumping off and allowing himself to be thrown back. Only Nine could make a game out of something so dangerous and stupid.

I start practising my telekinesis, tossing my pillow from the window and back again. I really don't care if someone is watching me right now, we're being sentenced to death by the Mogs and Setrakus Ra so it doesn't really matter who sees us or not. It's not like they can broadcast our powers to the world without starting riots and the questions about scientific discovery as they know it.

I'm starting to get into it. I concentrate and allow the cold to rise up from my spine and propel the ice forward. Sharp icicles rise up from the floor and go where I want them to. I aim for the wall and send each icicle sailing forward and when I clench my fist, they shatter into harmless crystals on the floor. I don't want to get in serious trouble with the Capitol, at least not yet. I continue forming long ice strips around me reaching towards the ceiling and create an almost labyrinth type cave around me. I feel at home a bit, surrounded by a familiar element. This is the legacy that I need to control the most, it goes insane with my emotions, mostly my anger and I've been feeling plenty angry lately.

I feel refreshed in this little cove I've made, like I've escaped the daily stresses of being in a society's death games and being filmed constantly. I feel like I finally have some privacy. I decide to meditate. Eight's been teaching me some methods to breath and relax so my Cryokinesis can be controlled better. Although it doesn't help much when he's there, his presence alone makes my heart go wild. Last night we were making out in frigid temperatures. I don't know why, but this legacy is harder to control, I assume it's because this is directly connected to my mood and emotions.

I take a few deep breaths and push the stresses from my mind. I decide to try to go into a trance like state. Apparently John, Six and Christina were in similar states when they recalled some of their childhood memories. I've never asked the others if they could recall anything from their childhood besides the invasion. I seriously doubt Ella can and Two too, they were both pretty young when we came here, but I've never asked the others. One told me she can only remember a birthday party and playing on our planet, but that's all. I guess we never really had the chance to enjoy Lorien, we were all so young, the prospect actually makes me a bit sad. Something the Mogs stole from us.

I never really thought to even ask Adelina about my parents or grandparents, which was pretty pointless for the longest time so I was basically out of options for trying to remember my past. I guess now's a good time to at least try.

I clear my mind and take a deep breath. I allow myself to sink deeper and deeper into my unconsciousness.

"Show me..." I say gently.

I open my eyes again and I'm back on Lorien. The colours are so vivid, I've only ever seen them in fleeting visions, but Lorien is so beautiful. The grass is an almost emerald green and the sky is the most amazing and rich blue, I can't even describe it. I'm on the street in a clean neighborhood with well trimmed laws and vibrant gardens. I'm drawn to one house particular. It's a quaint place, painted white with blue shutters and a grey shingled roof. It was my home, I can't believe that I can remember it so vividly. I was only six at the time, but I remember very little of my own home planet.

I see a little girl, about 4 or 5 years old, sitting in the grass. I get closer and I realize that it is me, so young and happy. I seem to be playing with stones or little small trinkets and I'm talking to myself, enacting some kind of scene, laughing and giggling. I look exactly the same only my features are smaller and more mousy. I look pretty cute, in an awkward sort of way.

A young and fitter Adelina comes out onto the front porch. She's smiling too. It's pretty foreign to me, for the years spent in the orphanage, I could count on my fingers the number of times I even saw a tiny grin on her face. She used to smile at me when we first came to the covent, to re-assure me that we were going to be okay, but that stopped really quickly. She pretty much ignored me for years until she realized the error of her ways and sacrificed herself so that I could live. Of course, I didn't make good decisions that contributed to the overall result, Adelina knew she made mistakes and in the end redeemed herself in honour of Lorien.

The smaller me drops the trinkets and runs to Adelina. She scoops me up and swings me around.

"You're getting too big for this..." she says with a smile. It hurts me a bit, but it was nice to hear her voice again.

"I'll never be too big for you Adel..."

Adel that was her real name, we'd had so many identities that I'd long forgotten her true identity. It was nice to finally know, but I was still curious, was she ever married? Did she have children? Unlikely, for most Cepans, the Garde are their children or the closest thing to it. Did she want to have children? I'll never really know, but I wish I did. We'd grown apart in those years in the convent and never really talked much. I didn't asked about my own life, let alone hers.

Adelina puts me down and I bring her over to the toys. I instruct her on what role she is playing and explain who I am and what I'm going to do. We begin to enact a scene together, as happy as ever. It seems like the typical scene that any child should have, something that the Mogadorians stole from us.

Suddenly, a women with grey hair pulled back into a bun steps onto the porch. She holds a plate of what I come to realize is a plateful of cookies.

"Adel! Elia! Come! They are freshly baked!"

Elia that's my real name. It's a really pretty name, I start to wonder what it means in Loric tongue. It's an unfulfilled wish of each of the Garde to know their history and more importantly their name, a name lost by the series of identities we had to embody. I like the name Marina, but this name is one I was meant to have and will wear with pride.

The 4 year old me takes Adel's hand and we run for the porch. My grandmother hands us each a cookie and kisses my forehead. I give a smile before I bite into the warm cookie, I can almost taste its sweetness from here and my mouth starts watering slightly. Chocolate begins smearing on my tiny face with each bite. I realize what I'm doing and ask for a napkin. Grandma reaches into her apron and presents me with a cloth. I wipe away the smudges and thank my grandmother with a hug.

"My young Elia, how quickly you are growing" she says in an almost melodic voice.

My grandmother is a sweet lady, bright blue eyes behind a pair of glasses that keep sliding down her nose. She has the sweetest smile, one that makes me feel safe and warm all over. I'm tearing up again, realizing that I had a safe and secure life before the Mogs took it away. It feels nice to remember, even just a little.

"Marina..Marina..." I hear in the distance.

I open my eyes, my ice fortress is till standing, but I see a familiar face behind a sheet of ice. I take down my cavern and see Eight's smiling face.

"Impressive Ice Queen." he says.

"Why thank you, I owe this ability to you and your courage to stand between Nine and Five."

"Speaking of Five, I've heard from Christina that's he's gotta thing for one of the tributes."

" Really? Which one?"

"The chick with the knives..."

"The one with the herb name?"

"Yeah" Eight says, scratching his arm.

"Lucky him, I guess love comes in different forms."

"I guess so..." He says. He's leaning in really close and taking my breath away. Our noses almost touch before place a finger and trace his sharp cheekbone leaving a trail of frost. He shudders slightly, but the design I've created is so pretty that I know he won't try to wipe it away.

"Want me to thaw that?" I ask before I kiss his cheek and then his lips.

It feels amazing to be close to him again. We'd just seen each other a couple of hours ago, but we never really had the chance to talk. I feel like he completes me. I know this is just a phase, the obsessive connection phase, needing to be near each other every hour everyday. Eventually it will fade with to mutual compassion and trust, but for now I need him. It seems so strange, falling in love in the middle of the war, but John and Sarah, Six and Sam, Christina and Blake did it, Five seems to be pending on it too, why can't we? Love can blossom in the strangest situations.

We begin to kiss harder. He tastes like salt and what I think is either barbecue sauce or something sweet like that. I run my fingers through his long curly hair and he rubs my back and grabs the edges of my shirt. My heart is racing and my face becomes extremely flushed. I want him. I want him...

Suddenly, there's a banging on the wall that breaks us apart. You'll never guess who it is...

"Do your screwing somewhere else! I want to watch this show in peace!"

The temperature drops as my anger boils over. How can she even hear us? I bring an icicle up and fling it in direction of our mentor's voice. Eight reacts instinctively and shatters it in mid-air.

"Careful." He's so patient with me.

"Sorry, she just rubs me the wrong way."

"Gotta be careful..."

"I know, Three said the same thing this morning and I almost gave him frostbite."

"Wanna thaw that out in..."

"You heard her, she'll just want to kill the moment."

"How about we..." he whispers. "Take it elsewhere?"

"The roof?"

"Even better" he whispers.

This makes me excited.

I grab his hand and our fingers interlock. There's darkness and I blink twice and I feel the fresh air hit my skin. I take in a deep breath. I never thought I'd miss the open air so much. Being cooped up in that artificial and hollow building really gets to you. I stretch out deciding to practice my Cryokinesis and I bring a few icicles out of the ground. I launch them at the force field, in which they vanish.

"Duck!" I say as the icicles come flying back and hit the door, shattering.

"Hold my hand" Eight says.

Once our fingers find each other, he pulls me forward, towards the edge!

"Wait!" I squeak frantically, trying to fight his grip.

"Just trust me" he smiles.

We go flying towards the edge and I brace myself, not sure what to expect. Will we be thrown back?

Everything goes black as there is a rush of air that takes my breath away.

"Open your eyes" Eight whispers.

I do so and we're on the pavement beside the Training Centre. Now I feel truly free.

"That was...awesome!" I chuckle.

"Nine gave me an idea, make teleporting a little more fun."

"As if it's not already fun" I snicker.

We walk along a brightly lit street, squinting as the multicoloured lights dance in front of us. The sounds of laughing people in those strange high pitched accents and the clinking of martini glasses radiate from an bar that looks like a house of mirrors with pink lighting. We walk by a casino and hear the sounds of loose change and lots of bells indicating that someone just won, along with the sounds of shuffling of cards and poker chips. It's a little much for us. Eight lived in a quiet cove in India alone for a long time and I was stuck in that orphanage in a small town, we're not used to big city life.

Eventually we find a quaint and relatively quiet park near a small lake. The city lights creates a luminous glow that reflect around the trees. The moon is full tonight, casting the most romantic glow across the water. It is the most perfect place to be. Eight steps onto the water, if it was so easy for me. I have to freeze the surface in order to walk like him, but I manage. We make it about half-way, before he pulls me close and kisses me. I return the passion, running my hands through his hair and clinging onto his shirt with all my might. I never want to let him go, ever since I almost lost him to Five, I'll never take him for granted again. I embrace every moment that I can see him, hold him, love him. His lips are the most delicious thing I've ever tasted and my heart races at an impossible rate. His strong arms hold me tight and I know I will love him need him.

"I love you" I say.

I pause for a moment, realizing what I've just done. I've just declared my love for him, it's unlike me to take such a leap of faith. It's not that I don't love him, I want us to be together, but it was in the moment. I suddenly push him away and my face flushes a bright red.

Eight looks at me, confused. I can't tell if he's confused by what I said or why I stopped our embrace. I look into his eyes. His beautiful eyes meet mine, he can see the fear in mine and I can see the confusion in his. My stomach drops and I can feel the tears rising up in my eyes

"I'm sorry..." I whisper. "I didn't mean to...I...I"

"Shhh...I love you too" he whispers.

My hearts jumps to my throat and I let out a sigh of relief. I laugh and let the tears flow. I kiss him as hard I can and hug him. Suddenly, the frigid water comes rushing up. Both of our legacies have given into our passion and we're sinking into the water. Once the water reaches my face I let my legacy take over. Eight takes a deep breath and joins me. We smile at each other under the dark water and we kiss again. I really don't care that we're wet and cold, we have each other.

Eventually Eight has to go to the surface, but I let myself sink to the bottom. My bear feet find cold, slimy stone and the tickle in my lungs relaxes me. I look up at the surface, just under the pale moonlight I can see Eight's silhouette. He's treading water and I let a spray of bubbles out, which is supposed to be a laugh.

Suddenly, Eight's silhouette changes. His head grows some kind of anomaly, his hands and feet grow further apart with a layer of skin growing between each appendage, becoming webbed. I watch as he does a dive straight down, and swims gracefully towards me. With my night vision, I can see he's some sort of half-fish man with gills that allows him to breath. His skin is more green, but his eyes remain the same. I give him a big smile and he brings me close. His skin is scaly and slimy, but his hair and embrace are the same. Our lips meet.

Suddenly, a voice comes into my head.

Sorry to bother you guys, really I am, but you need to come back. Two and One have made contact and Ella's in trouble!


	10. Chapter 9: New Nightmares

Christina's (Number Ten) POV

I know I've reached out to the two love birds. I really hate to interrupt their romantic moment, but One and Two have made contact and Ella's in trouble.

I'm on the phone with Blake, he's frantic. He called me an hour ago in a panic. He said that Ella had collapsed and she's having a seizure like crazy. He tried to wake her, but she's thrashing too much for him to help her.

"Her eyes are rolling back into her head!" he says, giving me a minute by minute of what's happening. I reached out to the others, but I'm not sure if they've heard me. "She's burning up!"

"Stay calm!" I say. "Just make sure she doesn't hit her head"

I hear a knock at my window. I lift the latch and Nine comes climbing into the room with Adam right behind him.

"What's wrong?" Nine asks.

"Ella's in some kind of fit!" I say breathlessly.

"Is she alright?" he asks.

"Would I have called you if she wasn't?!" I bark in frustration. "Sorry..."

"Let me talk to him." Adam says and I hand him the phone.

"Blake?" He says into the mouthpiece.

I start pacing back in forth. Where are the others? I stare out the window, waiting for Three, Five. I pace by the door, waiting for Six's invisible grasp. I knew Marina and Eight were going to be awhile, it took a few minutes for me to get in touch with them. I really hate to interrupt their moments, but Ella is in pain and could be in danger.

_Where are you?!_ I scream into my head, my patience and worry hitting over drive.

I hear a knock at the door. I open it, expecting to find Six's long raven hair and maybe John's blonde hair, instead I look into the tired eyes of Antonio.

"Is everything alright?" he mumbles, looking at his feet. "I heard the commotion! I just wanted to warn you not to wake our mentor, he's fighting one of the worst hang overs ever and he might not want the noise "

"I really don't care about him, my sister has collapsed and is...having a seizure!"

"Oh my g...Is she in the hospital?"

"No, my...boyfriend is with her, but he can't get a hold of her and he doesn't want to hurt her."

"Boyfriend?" I can hear the surprise in his voice. I read in his mind, he was hoping I was single. I like him, but only as a friend and potential ally.

"Where are your parents?"

"They died long time ago" I say quickly. I feel kind of bad that I have to lie to Antonio, he's a nice guy and he's the kind of person who wants you to be honest with him. "I raise my sister with my boyfriend."

I can tell that Antonio is trying to look over my shoulder. I know what he's going to ask next, how did Nine and Adam get into the room without him seeing them? I'm trying to think of a logical answer, when Six and John come through, fortunately visibly.

"Is she alright?" John asks, hardly noticing the unfamiliar presence in the room.

"No, Adam's on the phone with her" I explain.

"What about the..." Six pauses, seeing Antonio. "Others...my sister and best friend, have they called?"

"Yeah..." I answer, thinking of quick names for One and Two. "Maggie and Holly called before Blake called me"

"What did they have to say?" Six asks, pressing the issue a little too far. I shake my head telling her it can wait.

Suddenly, there's a tap at the window.

_No!_ I groan, Three is here, what a perfect way to blow our cover in front of Antonio.

_Don't come in just yet!_ I yell into my head at Three.

Thinking quickly I grab Antonio and turn him away from the window.

"Can you keep watch?" I ask quickly. He's extremely confused. If we're all from different districts, how would we know each other and why are we working together? Do we have some kind of weird alliance? I don't have the patience nor the time to straighten him out. "Can you keep watch for our mentor, make sure he doesn't come knocking, this... is..."

Antonio pats my shoulder. "I'll do my best." he says before yawning and walking outside.

Once the door is shut, Three climbs through the window.

"Holy crap that was close!" I squeak, combing my fingers through my matted hair. I reach out Eight and Marina, telling them to come through door because Antonio's awake.

I rush to the others, wanting an update from Adam.

"Any change?" I ask. We're all pretty much hovering over Adam, waiting for anything to come through about Ella.

"She won't stop shaking" Adam answers. "It's like she's having the worst bad dream ever."

I listen carefully, I can hear Blake's frantic breathing and Ella's tortured screams through the mouth piece. I begin pacing, frantic and tired.

"How the hell are we going to help Ella?!" Nine says, pacing like me, except on the ceiling. "We're trapped here, this is why we shouldn't have listened to Frodo, attack when we can! Now Ella's gonna pay for our..."

"That's enough Nine!" John barks. I always rely on John to bring the tempers down, he's the most level headed of all of us and I admire him for it.

"Do you think we should get in touch with Maggie and Holly?" Three asks. "Maybe they can help Ella?"

"How?! How!" I squeak "This is happening inside her head, we can't control it, you know that Three"

"Three has a point!" Adam says. "We're basically stuck here until the games start."

"Not exactly." I say.

"What do you mean?" Nine asks.

I point to the door, Eight and Marina walk through, barely trying to hide the fact that they are both soaking wet.

"What happened to you?" Six says, with a hint of suspicion in her voice. Not that she can really judge, before we came to Panem, she had seriously hooked up with Sam and she tried to keep it under wraps.

Both of them turn a bright red, it was basically implied what they were doing. I try to ignore their thoughts, but it's not always easy to do so. They had managed to walk around the city and ended up in a park, where...stuff went down. That is until I sent my urgent message.

I decide to keep their session under wraps and I change the subject.

"Shouldn't we be worrying about Ella?" I ask.

"Yeah..." Marina says, trying to cover her embarrassment. She runs up to Adam and grabs the phone.

"How is she?"

No change

Eight drifts into the background, but I can tell Nine seriously wants to get Eight alone for the details.

I decide we need to get One and Two over to District Ten in order for someone to at least provide protection to our unconscious Garde and my boyfriend. I push out of the group and towards the door. I open the door and I see Antonio on the floor feigning sleep.

"Hey!" I say quietly to him to wake him up.

He snorts and looks up at me.

"Yeah?" He yawns

"Thanks for keeping watch, can I borrow your phone in your room?"

"Uh...sure..."

I rush off before he can ask anymore questions. I burst into his room and rush to his phone. I dial the number that One gave me. As far as I know, they were in District 2, but specifically, One bought a burner phone from some drug store in Russia, untraceable and easily disposable. I'm just praying that the Capitol does not restrict cell phone calls. To my relief, One grabs it on the first ring.

"Hello?" she asks.

"Guess Who?" I say into the phone.

"Hey, how are you guys?"

"I wish we all were."

"Is Adam okay?" The first Loric and Mogadorian coupling.

"He's fine, it's Ella"

"Oh gawd, what happened?" she asks.

I can hear a lot of noise and traffic in the background, mean they are somewhere in what I think is the city of D3 which works with what we are about to talk about. I explain the situation briefly and quieter so whoever is listening in, which is okay, because One has awesome hearing like Nine.

"Oh God, we'll head there as soon as possible." One says.

"Make a few stops first." I say. "Go to the ocean (D4) for Sarah, by the transit (D5) for Mark, and the factory (D8) for Sam and then go you know where to go."

"Why?"

"I just don't trust that the Capitol will leave them alone. We just need everyone to be together for safety reasons." I explain.

"That's a good idea..." One trails off.

"Can I talk to Maggie?" I ask.

"Sure." I hear the phone being handed off.

"Hello?"

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm okay... What's wrong?"

"Ella's collapsed."

"Is she okay?!"

"We don't know. We need you to get to her? Holly has the instructions of what to do next. By the way any change?"

"The same, nothing interesting or new"

"That sucks."

"Don't I know it."

"Okay, I have to go back to the others. Talk to you soon."

"Bye"

I slam the phone down and shift from one foot to the other. I brush my bangs out of my face and hustle across the carpeted floor. I guess I didn't notice before, but Antonio has the TV on, casting dull light. I look up and see the ugly face of President Snow in front of me, giving some monologue on how the Capitol is just and fair by establishing the Hunger Games.

_Homicidal Maniac_ I hiss to myself. When we do face him, I want my chance to rip some of his perfectly trimmed beard out and shove it in his face. I'd also like to crush that cheap little lapel rose he wears and shove it down his throat!

I turn it off with my mind and go back towards my room. Antonio is practically snoring on the floor.

"Antonio..." I whisper, nudging him slightly. He rolls uncomfortably and just goes back to sleep. I figure there's no point in waking him now. At least he won't worry about anything else and hopefully won't see anything else weird. I'm praying that anything he might've seen was based on his lack of sleep.

At least he'll be able to sleep. I envy him. For us, in the middle of the war and us worrying about one of our own, no one is going to sleep peacefully tonight.


	11. Chapter 10: A Glimmer of Hope

Number Three's POV

It's been a long night. We decided early on to sleep in shifts and we would wake each other up if anything changes, but so far nothing.

It's not like I'm sleeping much anyways. The nightmares of the destruction of Panem are too much for me. I sat up with Marina for awhile being the comfort and support she needed. She's known Ella the longest and is therefore the closest. I know Marina treats her like her sister. I consider her that too, although after our reunion, we didn't have as much time to spend together.

Eventually, I told Marina to try to get at least a little sleep and she did settle down for a little while, but I seriously doubt she slept much. None of us really did. We all just waited by the phone, waiting for a call that has not come. It's torture, Six told me so. I actually had a soft conversation with Six, seeing beyond her hard exterior. She was genuinely worried for Ella and scared for the future as well as Sam Goode, her supposed "boyfriend", although she openly denies that they are not together. However, Christina has told us otherwise.

I watch the sun rise through Christina's window and I'm filled with a sense of peace. It's a simple sign of beauty in an otherwise bleak and dark world. I feel so lost right now, unable to do anything for Ella or the others. All have are these useless powers that hardly amaze anyone.

Eventually, I climb through the window and walk down to the seventh floor. I change my clothes and get something to eat. I grab a few pieces of fruit and a slice of bread before sitting down to eat. That's when our mentor strolls in and sits across from me. I'm not exactly in the mood for conversation with her, especially when she was so rude to Marina. I avoid eye contact with her as I eat to get some energy for another long day.

"You look like crap" she says, out of of the blue.

I look up at her and glare. "Thanks a lot"

"What I mean is, you look like you hardly slept. Was the little pervert keeping you up with her endeavors"

"No..." I'm really trying to keep my anger in check.

"Not surprised that they managed to keep so quiet, must be some time..."

"Can we please talk about something else?" I suggest through gritted teeth.

"Sure, to be honest, you're the only kid I have hope for getting through the first day. You actually know stuff, meanwhile all she knows is to go around and..."

"Stop it!" I hiss angrily.

"What's your problem chunky? I'm actually complimenting you. You actually have real chance to live through this. You're the one that sponsors will want to route for. The underdog from the lumber district, maybe we can actually win this year... I want a better reputation than screwing with..."

"SHUT UP!" I yell, jumping up from the table, sending a glass of juice flying. "MARINA IS MY BEST FRIEND AND SHE'S WAY MORE SKILLED THAN I AM, IN MORE WAYS THAN YOU'LL EVER BE ABLE TO COMPREHEND, IF YOU CAN! SHE IS IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK, BUT KEEP YOU STUPID OPINIONS TO YOURSELF. YOU'RE THE WORST MENTOR I'VE EVER HAD! YOU'RE A REAL B**** AND AT THIS POINT I'M WILLING TO DIE IN THE ARENA IN ORDER TO GET AWAY FROM YOU!"

I get up and storm out of the room. I slam the door extremely hard. Once I'm alone, I take a breath. I'm sweating and my palms are hot beyond belief. I just can't believe what I said! I've never acted like that nor have I stood up to anyone before. I take a minute and realize that I feel great. This is the kind of attitude I need in battle, strong and grounded, protecting those I care about.

When I reach the gym, training has commenced. I begin searching for Marina. I see John at the wrestling station taking on his trainer and Nine lifting weights across the way. Christina is at the edible plants section with Antonio and Adam is throwing spears for a change of pace. I can't find Marina, so I guess she called in sick in order stay near the phone.

That's when I notice her. Her braids flowing down her back as she kneels over at the fire building station. My heart skips a few beats and I begin to get sweaty again. My palms begin burning again, but I decide to ignore them. I find myself staring at her curves.

Go for it. I hear in my head. I turn to see Christina watching me. What have you got to lose?

She nods and winks at me before going back to the edible plants.

I suddenly feel rooted in place. I can't bring myself to move forward to something...someone so pretty. My heart is running wild and my palms are killing me. I squeeze them as tightly as I can, but it does little to extinguish how I feel. I picture her features in my mind. I take a huge breath and walk in slow steps. The closer I get, the more nervous I become. In a few minutes, I'm right behind her and I can hardly breath. I don't even know what to say, I rub my hands together, which is a bad idea and I hide them. I peer over her shoulder, she's trying to start a fire with a piece of thread and a rock. She's struggling because she needs to strike the rock, not rub it.

"Need some help?" I ask, kneeling down next to her. She gives me a side gaze, but not much else.

"No!" She says immediately and does her best to ignore me. Her words hurt, but I'm compelled to keep trying. I decide it's better to show her myself, instead of trying to get so close so quickly.

I get all the materials I need and go down across from her. I can see she's still trying to ignore me, rubbing the flint, not striking.

Although my hands could probably start a fire by themselves, I strike the rocks, making sure the string receives the friction. It takes me a few times, but soon I can smell the smoke. She's still trying, but I can tell she's frustrated. Eventually, she cuts herself.

"Dammit!"

"Are you okay?" I ask with concern.

She puts her finger in her mouth to suck the blood. I shakily put a hand on her shoulder and she shrugs it off.

"I don't know why I'm learning such stupid skill, the only way we're going to win is to fight. Those are the useful skills. Besides this is what matches are for..."

I'm silent for a moment. She sounds like another Career, murderous and possibly bloodthirsty. I decide to try to ignore that side of her. I don't know why, but I'm just drawn to her, despite her hateful attitude.

"Do want me to show you?" I offer quietly.

She looks at me with a bewildered by my offer. She shoots me a sort of glare.

"I'm gonna stop you right there, it you're trying to worm your way into an alliance, you're out of..."

It's my turn to be confused.

"No...no, the instuctor's busy so," It's true, she's helping another tribute with starting a proper fire with matches.

"Here" I say gently. I take her hands and put them near the pile of wood she failed to light. She resists my grip and begins to fight me.

"Let go of..." She moves her hands in the exact motion she needs to start the fire. I let go before she makes it any worse for both of us.

"Use that motion!" I say.

"What motion?"

"The one you're using right now." I immitate it so she gets the idea. "Make that motion with the flint!"

"You've got to be..."

"Just try it." I say with a bit more force. "You're going to need to cook food somehow."

She takes a moment to compensate my suggestion. She glares at me and tilts her head again. I do my best to make some space between us so she can try to start the fire herself.

At last she turns around and does the motion with the flint and string. She's rough on the first few tries, but she eventually gets the right idea. It takes a few moments before I can see that smoke is starting to show. All at once, a tiny flame apears on the string.

"I did it!" She squeals, pretty surprised that my advise worked.

"Now blow slightly, it needs oxygen to catch." I tell her.

She blows a little too hard and the flame goes out.

"Darn!" she hisses. She inspects her cut finger and decides to try and re-light it.

She tries the motion, but it's harder this time. She grinds her teeth together as she strikes the flint.

"Come on" She growls under her breath.

I keep watching her, debating my next move in my head. I want to help her, but at the same time I don't want a repeat of last time, she nearly screamed at me, like I was assaulting her. All I needed was a few seconds of pure courage. My hands were boiling hot and shaking, I wipe them on my uniform to prevent sweat from forming any further.

I take a deep breath and approach her again. I gently place my hands on hers. She gasps suddenly, but doesn't scream. She squirms slightly, but I decide to just quickly guide her hands to restart the fire.

Her hands are quite soft, soft and smooth. Compared to my rough, dried and blistered arms, hers are near perfection. Her nails are also quite clean and in uniform shape, most likely done by her stylists, but to me they're a work of art. My hands on hers has my heart racing at a wild pace. For a second I thought I might burn her with my palms, but they suddenly feel cool. We strike the flint together and eventually the string and wood catches fire.

"Oh, I did it!" she squeals, but stops short... "We did it. Where'd you learn to that?"

"Long camping days in the woods."

"Right , you're from the forest district."

"Yeah, I can live on my own for almost two weeks." I sort of boast.

"Impressive," she says with a smile. "But it depends if you last that long in the arena."

My throat dries out when she says that and I swallow with difficulty. She is one of the tough tributes, a Career, probably with a blood lust and a love of killing. It makes me kind of sick that she can make a joke like that and let it roll off her back. To her, killing others is nothing to be worried about, her transgression is too calm for me. For the Loric, protecting human life is everything, we strive to help Earth survive from the Mogs, but it seems that North America is not doing a good job with the dystopian society.

She's noticing my silence. "Don't worry," She says with a slight giggle, "I probably won't end up killing you, you might meet Cato or Marvel in the woods instead."

"Lucky me..." I say softly.

She goes for another set of fire starting tools, the classic way with two sticks and friction. She begins rubbing them together like anyone would assume it would be done, but I do know a better way.

"Here..." I say, guiding her hands in best way to start a quick fire. I select a big, flat chunk of wood and use string and the two sticks to create almost a bow. I also carve out a chunk of the flat wood with a knife to better channelling the friction. I show her how to use the bow to move the plain stick back and forth in a circular motion in the carved area. It takes a few tries, but soon she gets the hang of it and we can smell the smoke.

"You have quite the know-how..." She says with a slight giggle.

"You can call me Survival Man." I say with a deep, monotone voice. I swing a stick above my head , hamming it up, pretending I'm a great warrior. "The great explorer and king of fire making."

She giggles at my joke and I feel warm inside. I've definitely made a connection with her. I spend the rest of the time showing her different methods of starting a regular fire, a smokeless fire and a portable fire, like a torch. By the time the lunch bell rings, she's fairly comfortable with at least four different methods.

"You'll be the fire queen." I smirk.

"I thought that was the D12 girl's name!" she says in an almost snooty voice.

I can tell right then that she's jealous of the District 12 girl. I guess it's because District 1 and 2 are always the stars and a small, poorer district like 12 is stealing their thunder.

"What I mean is, that you'll be the expert in keeping heat going." I say.

"I guess so,"

She stands up to face me. I'm about a head taller than her, but she is well built, meaning she is well fed in her district. She still maintains the almost supermodel type physique that highlights her chest and other curves. Her eyes meet mine and I feel like I'm about to explode with heat. My hands start burning again and strangely, the lights above us flicker. We both look up at the event and then back at each other. Her eyes are so beautiful, an emerald green, the type of green that is rare in the tropical forests. I can just picture finding the perfect wild flower to string into her light strawberry blonde hair. If only she could see me in my natural element, climbing trees in search of food and hunting with spears. Would she really like me then? See how strong I was? Probably not, I'm used to the wild and untamed world on the run, while she's probably used to proper and fancy luxaries of her district. Look at how she sees fire starting as a useless skill.

Her voice brings me back to reality.

"Huh?" I stutter.

"I wanted to thank you for helping."

"Uh, N-no problem, I don't mind helping people, especially beautiful girls like you..."

I can feel the colour from my face drain and my eyes go wider than ever. Apparently I can't keep my mouth shut.

"W-What I mean is, I-I think you're very pretty, those eyes like flawless emeralds and your hair..."

STOP TALKING! I scream into my head. I sound like a total idiot.

"I-I...What I mean is, I see you as a strong girl with passion and..."

She looks up at me and I think blushes. She tosses her hair back and looks me straight in the eye.

"T-thank you, I get that a lot, but not nearly as poetic as that..."

With that she turns on her heels and walks towards the lunch room. I'm left there like a total moron, standing as stiff as a robot.

Eventually, I walk after her. Once I serve myself something I sit down in the furthest corner of the room and keep my head down. I don't want to meet her eyes, those beautiful eyes.

I only look up once and catch Christina's gaze.

It's okay she says to me. We all say stupid stuff when we're attracted to someone.

Not like this I tell her. I'm a total screw-up and sounded like a moron I probably scared her off.

Love isn't always easy.

Love, is this love because if it is, it sucks. I seriously don't think this would be love, I don't even think this girl will like me. All I did was scare her and show her how to start fires, why would she like me? I even made her sound like some sort of beautiful prize that I was pining for, in reality, I just really wanted to get to know her.

I keep my head down so low that I could drown myself in the bowl of chili. It seems like the best solution to escape such an embarrassment. Even when everybody's left the room, I hang back. I start wondering if I can trade places with Marina for the afternoon.

Eventually I manage to bring myself out of the lunchroom and fortunately, nobody's paying attention to me. I manage to slip into the nearest station and become invisible for the rest of the afternoon. I'm the last one to leave the arena and I go up to the seventh floor. Once I'm in the hallway, the lights start to flicker and my hands start burning again. What kind of legacy is this where I'm in excruciating pain and the lights burn out. I am I made of electricity or something? I run into the apartment and go to my room, not even bothering to see if Marina's back on this floor, probably not, still waiting for news on Christina's floor.

I lay down and sulk in my woes as the lights continue to flicker and flash around me. I try to sooth my hands in ice cold water, but nothing works. Eventually I give up and lay down, face in the pillow.

I skip dinner and it's not long before there's a knock at my door.

"Go Away" I mumble.

I don't hear a response. I get up to investigate and find a tray on the floor with a note on top. Probably Marina and she gave it to some Avox. I bring the tray inside, grabbing the bread and munching on it as I read the note. I open it and it's not Marina's handwriting. When I open it up I nearly choke to death on the bread.

It's from her, the girl from District 1, the one I totally blew a chance with.

My hands are shaking so badly that I can hardly read the letter she's written.

_Dear Survival Man,_

_I guess we go off on the wrong start before, I know you were just trying to help me and I sort of freaked at first. I'd like to get to know you better before we might end up murdering each other. I left you alone afterwards because I needed time to sort out how I felt about what you were saying to me. I'm used to guys hitting on me, the strong and bulky type, but you're different. You're complicated and smart, for some reason I dig that. You definitely know how to start a fire but your words could use some work. I can see you're a poet at heart so I'm gonna give you my name so you can write a poem for me. I can read it on the roof tomorrow after 8. See you then,_

_Glimmer_


	12. Chapter 11: Even Out The Odds

John's (Number Four) POV

I shower after training and pull on some clean clothes. I sneak out past the Avox people and our mentor and head for the elevator. I go up to the tenth floor and unlock the door with my telekinesis and slip through the living room.

"What are you doing?"

I jump three feet in the air and I turn to see the kid Antonio leaning against the door frame.

"Gawd you scared me!" I pant. This kid has a tendency to pop up when we don't need him. He's two steps away from blowing our secrets.

"Sorry, but what are you doing?"

"I'm...I'm going to visit Christina?"

"She's in there, but how do you guys know each other? How did all of you get up to her room last night?"

"Through the door." I state, trying to sound obvious.

"I only heard the door open once or twice, there were like...eleven of you in there last night."

"T-That's crazy." I stammer.

"I know what I saw."

"You were tired...I know I was and I think there might've been two or three, plus Christina..."

"That's a load of..."

To my great relief Christina's head pops out of her room and interrupts.

"John..." She's trying to ignore Antonio for the moment. "Phone's for you. Hey, Antonio."

I slip in behind Christina and go up to the awaiting phone.

"Hello"

"Hi Handsome"

My heart skips a few beats and a huge smile spreads across my face. Just to hear her voice again cheers me right up. I get that dizzying feeling that always comes when I'm near or close to Sarah, even though she might be miles away at the time.

"I'm so happy to hear from you" I sigh into the mouth piece.

"I miss you" She says it in such a way that I know she's smiling.

"Miss you more, but are you safe?"

"Yes, Holly and Maggie picked me up last night."

I sigh again, a wave of relief washes over me knowing that she's with One and Two, not alone and vulnerable with all the Peacekeepers running around.

"That's good to hear." I say.

"We just grabbed Mark and we're heading for Sam before we go to the party."

It feels really weird to be saying things like this, but it's just to cover ourselves in case the phones are tapped.

"Good."

"How was training?"

"To be honest pretty boring."

"I'm sure it was for a strong guy like you" she giggles.

I think I hear Mark groan in annoyance. The fact that she's flirting within earshot of him probably makes him mad and the fact we're in the middle of a war here makes it completely unnecessary. I don't mind it very much, just to hear from her and that she's okay makes me laugh at her joke. I feel myself tear up a bit. It's only been a few days, but I still miss her and with all of us under surveillance I just want her to be safe.

"Oh Holly wants to talk to you. I'll say good bye here. I love you."

"I love you too." I smile. Somehow I just know that she's smiling too.

I hear voices in the background as Sarah hands the phone to One.

"Hey..."

"Hey," I say. "What's up?"

She and I are like the unofficial leaders of the group right now. We always have the groups best interests at heart. I'd trust One with my life and Sam, Sarah and Mark's lives, the people I care about most. (Mark mostly, he's gained my trust) She can generate earthquakes, has superior hearing, and can walk on water like Eight. Two there's too, but she's still pretty young, she's the youngest next to Ella, so her legacies are not fully developed, but it's only the beginning. There's no telling what she's capable of. I do know that Bernie Kosar's there too. I left him back in District 4 to protect Sarah, so he's one less worry right now. Tomorrow is the last day of training and in the afternoon we have private sessions to show our skills to the Gamemakers. I really want to know if we're allowed to at least show our legacies, but that would blow our cover more times than I can count. We're meeting up on the roof soon for another meeting, but we're still not clear on the plan for the arena.

I ask One to say good bye to Sarah, give Bernie Kosar a hug and keep everyone else safe. Once I hang up Christina looks up at from her sketch book on her bed. Her hand is moving quickly over the page. I never really knew that she was into drawing. The only artists I knew were Marina and Ella and it seemed unnecessary during the middle of the war.

Curiosity is getting the best of me, subtly I walk over and lean over her shoulder. She's sketching a picture of a butterfly with very detailed wings that look like stain glass. Some of her papers are scattered along the bed. I pick up a few. She has a picture of a sunset, a picture of Ella playing with Bernie in the grass, Sarah and I holding hands in front of a sunset, Six in the middle of a vivid storm of her own creation, a tulip with raindrops and our Loric symbols. Overall I'm impressed, she's got quite a talent.

"Wow," I say aloud. "These are great."

Christina looks up at me and gives me a small smile.

"Thanks, I draw when I need to distract myself." She takes the papers and tucks them into her portfolio.

"Where'd you get the folder?" I ask knowing we only really came with our chests to the Capitol.

"An Avox bought in for me." She replies.

I swallow hard. I learned what the Avoxes are when I tried to talk to one by mistake and our mentor subtly leaned over to tell me that they can't talk back. I knew better than to ask why. Rebels or deserters are caught by the Captiol and enslaved in service as Avoxes and the most gruesome thing is that their tongues have been cut out. When I first learned it, I wanted to vomit. A part of me really wants to help them, using my healing abilities to bring back their voices. The problem is that I might end up having them killed or worse and I think they've been through hell already. When and if we bring down the Capitol, Marina and I will have to go on a healing spree to help the Avoxes, give them the voice that they deserve.

"The poor souls." Christina mutters.

"Silent servants."

Christina leans in and I feel her voice in my head.

Don't tell anyone, but I gave them pictures of President Snow with a noose around his neck. I know they couldn't talk, but the smile on their face knew that I'd made their day.

I smile in return.

I continue to shuffle through the papers in Christina's portfolio. I see a picture of the president with dark red blood dribbling out of his mouth and wine glass full of a similar liquid, Avoxes in similar positions, a line of Peacekeepers that look like a firing squad and what I think is supposed to be some of the residents of the Capitol in the most outlandish clothes I've ever seen.

"It's kind of funny" Christina smirks. "We're the aliens and they're the ones that dress like they're out of this world."

"Guess you're right" I mutter, putting the papers back in her folder. "Do you think that President Snow actually drinks blood?"

"Think? I know that he does. Just listen to his thoughts." she grimaces. "He poisoned his allies and himself to draw away the suspicion that he was the one doing it. He has permanent sores in his mouth that makes blood dribble out. He's kind of like a vampire."

"The oldest and ugliest one I've ever seen." I snicker.

Christina giggles and finishes with the butterfly and slides the portfolio back under the bed.

I'm going to get the others together tonight. I seriously think that we should use our legacies tomorrow, show them off and scare the crap out of Gamemakers. Besides they're private sessions.

We'll have to see. I think back to her. I want to make sure the others are together and safe before we do something like that.

_Come on John. It's time that the odds were in our favour._


	13. Chapter 12: Light During Dusk

Number Three's POV

I'm extremely nervous that I'm pacing on the roof, a bad habit I picked up from Nine. I keep glancing down at the piece of paper that I've written few short poems about Glimmer on. The lights continue to flicker as my anxiety builds. Whatever this legacy is, it's not helpful right now. I'm an alien that is about to meet a girl that I really like for the second time and I have an uncontrollable legacy, that'll scare her! And to top it off, Christina is calling another meeting on the roof at midnight.

I check the clock and decide to walk up to the roof, the long way. I climb through the window and up the side of the building. I'm not really worried if anyone sees me, they must have seen a lot weirder in a city like this. I pull up over the ledge and plant myself on the roof. My palms are still burning and I'm worried that the papers I have might catch fire. I go by the garden where we met the other night. The sounds of the wind chimes calms me down a bit, just enough to stop pacing for a few minutes. I suddenly realize that I don't have anything to impress her with besides these lame poems I wrote. I frantically search for a flower in the garden. I finally find a white rose and pluck it out. I'm jumping up and down inside. I should have asked John, Eight or even Christina for advice on how to talk to a girl as pretty as Glimmer. I picture the white rose in her hair and how the simplicity of the pastel shade of the flower does not compare to her flawless face

I am definitely a poet at heart, I can understand why she wanted me to write something for her. I do like her a lot, but the question is whether she'll like me. She might hate the poems and just humiliate me! Or what if she just wants me in an alliance, but kill me when I'm not looking?

My hands are burning again and I swear that everything will catch on fire. I have a feeling that my legacy is totally going to blow my chance, if any with Glimmer.

Suddenly the door opens and my breath catches in my throat. I brush my dark hair out of my face slightly and I can feel myself sweating. I hide my pendent and take another deep breath.

A pair of hands come up behind me and cover my eyes.

"Guess who?!" she says in a very melodic voice.

"The most beautiful woman in the world" I answer, before I can stop myself.

I hear her giggle and I turn slowly towards her. She has her hair up in a pretty braid and wearing something other than training clothes. Something that extenuates her curves. I do my best to avoid staring, but she is beautiful to look at.

I'm so taken aback by her, I can hardly speak.

"I...I..."

Glimmer looks slightly uncomfortable to, holding a smile that is fading with every second that passes.

"Hi?" she offers as a conversation starter.

"H-Hi...How are you?" I stammer.

"Ummm, fine you?" she asks.

"Good, good, good you?" I pause. "We did you."

"Yes we did." she sighs.

"I uh..." I remember the rose and offer it to her. "I uh... found this rose for you...it...it's really beautiful and when I look at it... you... I think of you and how...how pretty you look tonight."

_I'M AN IDIOT!_ I hold the flower out to her and I realize it has gone slightly limp because I was squeezing it so hard. I'm still babbling on like a moron and the night is not getting any younger.

"Thank you..." she says and takes a small sniff before putting it behind her ear. When she does that, my heart pumps faster than ever before. She's the most beautiful sight in the world.

_Tell her that you idiot! _I think to myself.

"So." I'm relieved that Glimmer's picked up the conversation. "I've never been up here. Is it nice?"

"Uh...yes, yes it is. There's a nice garden over here if you want to follow me." I say, swallowing hard.

I gently guide her along to the sound of the wind chimes. They're not the most romantic place, but it's quiet and private. As we walk, I have the instinct to try and hold her hand, but I stop, realizing my hands are burning hot. I suck in a deep breath and try to calm myself just a little bit.

Once we reach the private bench I allow her to sit and I sit on the edge, keeping my distance.

"Why so far away?" she asks softly.

"I..I uh I don't want to appear that I'm coming on too strong."

"You're allowed to sit a little closer to me if you want." she offers.

"O-okay."

I slide very awkwardly towards her, inch by inch as my heart races faster and faster. Once I'm decently close I stop. I stare into her beautiful green eyes, the eyes that had me the first time I laid eyes on her. Her elegant beauty seems to be reflected in the setting sun. She's the most beautiful thing I've ever beheld.

She, however, looks at me kind of funny. She squints and shifts her head as if trying to figure me out.

I'm turning her off of me and I haven't even read the poems. I reach for the paper in my pocket and take it out slowly, not to scare into thinking I'm trying to make a move.

"T-These are...are the poems I was inspired to write about you." I whisper.

"Okay, I like hearing about me." She giggles slightly and I can't tell if it's a joke or she's serious.

I clear my throat and try to read the first line.

"G-Glimmer...she's my shimmer" I can feel my face flushing bright red and My heart sinks into my stomach.

"You shine like no other, the brightest star in the sky."

I tried to make it rhyme, but realized how stupid it sounds. With each passing word, I know that she's ready to jump off the roof and be thrown back towards the door so she can leave. I stop, realizing that I'm just making it worse.

I stare down at the poems for a second and hen crumple it up. I throw it over the roof and I don't care if it comes back. I decide to just speak from my heart.

"You are so very beautiful, no one compares to you. You glow more than this sunset that we behold tonight. That rose's beauty is no match for yours. When I look into your eyes, I see the greenest forests that cannot compare to the lush and loving look of your irises. I see a beautiful, pure angel. A girl with an attitude, but a well-meaning heart. Someone who deserves every respect from a man and the fairest treatment of them all. that may or not be..."

She leans forward and kisses me gently. I'm really taken aback and my palms burn like... there's no feeling to describe it. My heart beats the fastest its ever gone and my mind is like a tornado.

I pull away, only by pure surprise, not because I didn't like it. This is my first kiss and it was rather spontaneous. She tasted like some sort of exotic fruit, I assume that it was her lip gloss, but I can't help it. I want more. I want to feel the firmness of her lips and kiss them quickly, savor them , as if they were a flower that would wilt if I did not continue.

There's a brief pause between us. We're both panting heavily. Her eyes are so beautiful, but they are filled with worry.

"I...I" For the first time she is speechless.

"Shh." I whisper. "Would you mind if I kissed you again?"

"Of course." She whispers.

I pull her close and our lips meet again. The sensations that follow can hardly be described. My heart is leaping into my throat and my mind is soaring as her image fills my head. I reach over and run my hand through her soft hair and cup her face, as if she were mine. She puts her arms around my neck and pulls me even closer, that our chests are practically touching. I feel her hands wrap around my back and I pull her into my lap, so we can be even closer. She tastes like the sweetest thing I've ever tasted and I never want to let her go.

All of a sudden bright colours fill the sky. We're both taken aback, breaking our huddle. In the graying sky, several colours seem to explode in front of us, like fire works. Reds, soft pinks, a few purples and yellows. I can't really tell if we're hallucinating or if this is real. I hold Glimmer close and we watch the display. The display seems to be in the surrounding sky, wrapping us together in a blanket of light. I see blues in the sky, as well as neon colours and the most beautiful colour of green, much like Glimmer's... eyes. It was as if someone knew we were together...

I feel my hands growing warmer and I picture a certain colour in my head. I squeeze my fist and the same colour streaks across the sky. I realize that I am the one that's creating this and I know that I have little control over this legacy. My emotions are everywhere all at once.

When I start to panic and the colours become paler, duller and more white. I look back at Glimmer and the colours become vivid again. We don't speak, as we gaze into each other's eyes. She doesn't speak. I don't know if she suspects that I'm doing this, I try to make it less obvious. Suddenly, bright pink light surrounds us and I can almost see the hearts in the sky. We're surrounded by the beauty and a warm pink glow. The lights bounce off her eyes and make her more beautiful than ever before. I squeeze my fists in excitement and golds explode once more before they start to create a soft glow that surrounds us, bringing us closer. She's practically on my lap, but I really don't care anymore. I have her and I want her.

She stares at me in wonder.

"Where did you come from?" she whispers. I don't have time to react when she pulls me in for another kiss.


	14. Chapter 13: Make Sure They Remember Us

Marina's (Number Seven) POV

I lean over on the bed. My stomach is fighting with me again and my Cryokinesis is out of control. Ever since the Ella news, I've been crying, with the tears freezing to my face and with the time spent waiting for something, anything about Ella, makes me cry harder and re-freeze my tears in a constant cycle. Eight has stood by me the entire time, despite the cold, he's hugged me, consoled me and did everything he could to make sure I was okay. I don't know what I'd ever do without him.

Christina has called another roof meeting, but I don't want to go because if we leave we might miss the call we've been waiting for. Eight re-assures me and we decide to ask Antonio to stay by the phone. He is reluctant to be around us, but what's happening to Ella takes prescience over keeping our identities a secret.

We walk out into the hall and Eight teleports us to the roof. He lets go of my hand and vanishes to retrieve some of the others. I walk in slow steps towards the rooftop garden. I suddenly see a series of beautiful colours explode into the night sky. I'm extremely confused and walk around closer to investigate. I see Three sitting on a bench, waving his hands like he's conducting an orchestra. I watch the light surrounding him jump alive and dance in vivid circles with a multitude of colours.

"Is that a new legacy?" I ask curiously.

Three jumps at the sound of my voice and turns to me.

"Yeah, uh... I just discovered it when I spent my time with Glimmer?"

"Oh Gawd, did she?" I gasp.

"No, no, she just thought is was some crazy light show put on in the Capitol. She thought is was rather romantic."

"So did she kiss you?" I ask, acting all girlie for the moment to take my mind off Ella.

Three said nothing and turned away from me. I can see his ears turning red in embarrassment and I let out a slight giggle. I sit down next to him and elbow him.

"Did you get a little action?" I tease.

Three snorts and turns his back on me again. I can feel the shift in the mood already. He's sad, but I can't say why.

"What's wrong?" I ask, more gently.

"Nothing..."

"Come on, tell me." I insist.

"Um..." He takes in a deep breath before he answers. he turns back towards me.

"I'm just thinking that this is not going to end well for either of us. I mean we're in the middle of a war and we're stuck in these death games, which I'm sure that she's excited about. How can I like a girl who wants to become a full fledged murderer and most likely want to kill me? Why did this have to happen to me?"

I put my arm around him and he rests his head on my shoulder. I don't really have an answer for it. This is the most unlikely situation that could ever occur, now of all times, is definitely not ideal. I can understand Three's insecurities about being close to someone and the fear of letting them slip through your fingers because the next day is just as much as a mystery than the last one, it's hard. I really feel for Three and want to give him solace. It is fairly clear that this relationship will end before it even starts.

"Fate works in mysterious ways." I answer gently. I don't know what else to say. "But everything happens for a reason."

"I just wish I knew the answer to that reason." he sighs. I pull him into a hug and I feel this warmth radiating off of him, most likely from the legacy he's just discovered. We don't know the full extent of what this legacy can do, but the sooner we know the better.

We hear footsteps coming around the dome in front of the garden and we turn. The rest of the gang has appeared and we get right down to business.

"I vote we show our legacies tomorrow" Nine says right off the bat.

"That blows our cover wide open." Christina protests.

"No it won't, only the drunkards will know and they can pass the message to SR and Snow that we're not afraid of them."

I can agree on Nine's reasoning. Our other fighting skills are not in the greatest shape, except for Six and Nine, I want to at least impress the judges with something I'm good at.

But at the same time, would the judges blow our cover completely and start the full fledged war that Three says he sees in the future. What about One, Two and the others and with Ella comatose, we put the one's we love at an even greater risk.

"It's too risky" Christina moans, ready to heat up the debate with Nine.

"Look, princess I've had enough of this hiding BS. I want to attack NOW!" Once again he slams his fist on the roof, shaking the building slightly.

"What about Ella and the others?" I chime in protest.

"They'll be-" Nine starts.

"NO!" I yell angrily. "No they won't be fine because poor Ella has something that we don't understand and we're thousands of miles away to do anything to help her."

I feel like a trapped bird, surrounded by bars and obstacles on all sides. I feel like that force field that protects the building is closing in around me. We leave, we cause chaos and most likely deaths to all of the innocent people. We stay, we'll be forced into the death arena with no means of escape either. Everything seems like a hopeless situation.

After my outburst, Eight comes over to comfort me because tears are no burning my eyes and my Cryokinesis is acting up again. I just want to protect Ella and end this war.

John finally speaks up. "I think Nine is right..." he mumbles.

"WHAT?!" Christina screams out. "Have you lost your mind?! What about Sarah, Sam and Mark? We blow our cover, they're dead."

"We're already dead and our cover is already blown with our positions in the games. They know who we are and they think that we're dead, or so Ra thinks when we enter the arena." John explains.

"What kind of plan do you have John?" Six asks, eyeing him carefully.

"It's pretty rough clan, but I do think we need to send a message to Ra that we're dangerous and we will come to get him."

"I still don't think that's a good idea." Christina says. I know she's worried about the others.

"Come one Princess," Nine says, clapping Christina on the shoulder. "Sometimes showing off is a huge benefit."

"I hope your right..." she says swallowing hard.

Soon Eight and I are back in my room. It feels very hollow and very empty. The windows are like the black eyes of the city that watch my every move, symbolic of the Capitol itself.

"I don't want you to go." I say softly, pulling Eight into a hug.

"Then I won't." he says. "I love you Marina and I will do everything in my power to make you happy and protect you."

"I love you too and I will do the same thing for you. We're a team you and I and nothing can destroy that."

I pull him tighter and we eventually crawl under the covers together and spend time cuddling, no kissing, just being close makes me feel more secure than I felt. We spent the whole night in embrace and when I woke up, we were entangled in each other, never letting go.

The next day I know I have to go down to training, but Eight promised that once our private sessions are over, we'll go straight back to Christina's room.

Eight and I ride down the elevator together, holding hands. Once we reach the center, we step off and let go of our hands. We know we have to keep our relationship a secret, even though our supposed sponsors would love it and route for it. Eight suggests we go over to the knife-throwing stations, where John and Christina's district partner, Antonio are. John's showing him how to hit the dummy as a method of distraction.

I pick up a few knives and chuck them at the dummy across the room. One misses, so does the second, but the third I hit the dummy in the shoulder. Eight grabs a knife and hands it to me. He points out the direction and tells me how to aim it properly. I am a little distracted by him being so close, but I digress. I aim carefully and nail the next few shots. I cringe slightly, with idea of killing someone with a knife, then again I did take Five's eye out with ice. I feel sometimes that I have conflicting legacies, I can heal the sick and wounded, but I can also kill with ice .

We spend time together, going from station to station together, trying to keep inconspicuous, but a watchful could assume that we had some kind of connection, alliance or otherwise. I don't excel at any of the stations, but I know this will change, once our legacies are shown. Introduce a little fear in the Capitol.

When lunch rolls around, Eight and I sit together in a corner, eating silently while holding hands under the table. Christina sits with Five, still trying to connect with him as best she can. I feel sorry for her, she is the odd one out when it comes to trusting Five. Why he betrayed us, tried to kill Nine and Eight, deserted us, but came back again, expecting us to just forgive him, will always be a mystery. I don't trust the treacherous bastard anymore. I almost lost Eight because of it.

Five is the least of my problems when the big bulky male tribute from District 2 sticks his foot out to trip Antonio who's carrying a tray of stew. He goes flying, crashing into the girl from District 3, spilling the rest of the contents of his tray on her and anything else within a five meter radius, which includes the tribute from Nine's district and Eights's . The Career table snickers all around, even the girl that Three likes is cracking a smile. Christina is immediately there to help Antonio up and help clean up the mess. That is until Christina slips on the mess and lands on her butt. The entire table erupts in laughter at the sight. Eight and I look at each other and decide to help. I help the District 9 girl up and Eight helps his tribute partner walk around the mess. Christina gets up again and hobbles back and sits back down next to Five, bringing Antonio with her.

"Bunch of losers. They'll bite the dust the first day." The District 2 tribute snickers.

Five gets up from the table and turns towards the Careers. I know he has a crush on Clove from District 2, but he has his vengeance on her partner. Before anyone can stop him, the chair that the District 2 guy sits on flips over, spilling him onto the floor. This gives Five a chance to grab the guy and pin him against the wall.

"What a dick move!" he hisses at the guy. The tribute tries to fight against his grip, but we all know that Five is very strong. The District 1 tribute gets up to help his counterpart, but the girl, Clove, tells him to leave it.

"Picking on the weaker people. It's filth like you that I will enjoy killing in the arena. Your petty, douche bag actions will make our face off so much more satisfying. You have no idea what I am capable of and I don't think you want to find out."

With that he releases the tribute, but the guy doesn't miss a beat.

"Why wait till the arena?" he barks. He lunges.

He tries to punch Five, but Five grabs his fist and forcefully pushes the kid onto the table, spilling more lunch everywhere. The kid gets up and attempts to keep his pride intact.

"I look forward to it Cyclopes." the tribute says angrily and heads toward the arena.

After lunch, we all sit and wait for our names to be called. The Career tributes go in and I watch as Adam swallows hard when his name is announced. I give him a small smile and he walks into his section. In a few minute I feel a distant rumbling that shakes the room slightly and pops my ears. I do my best to hide the smile that's growing on my face. Those judges will be scared witless and send their message. I think I even hear a few muffled screams. Some of the other tributes whisper in confusion, but seeing that the rest of us Garde didn't notice it, they let it go.

John heads in next and then Five. Six's male counterpart sets out and she and I clutch hands. We're like sisters, she and I, we watch out for each other and we've always had a special connection given our proximity in numbers. I squeeze her hand and she squeezes back reassuringly. We smile quietly to ourselves until Six's fake name is called. I feel a piece of me being ripped away when she stands up. I give her one small smile before she vanishes out the door.

I watch as my district partner, Dennis, get up shakily and hobble out of the room. I feel sorry for the guy, in fact all of the other tributes too. They don't have our abilities to protect themselves, but I start thinking about whether we can help the tributes stay alive with our abilities and wreck the games from the inside.

A female voice comes over the intercom.

"Marina Adeline"

I stand up with lots of confidence and give a side glance at Eight and I see him mouth the words _Good Luck_ to me. I mouth back Y_ou Too_ and walk towards the arena. I can feel my Cryokinesis powering up as I become more confident with every step.

_We have to make sure that the Capitol remembers us._


	15. Chapter 14: Settling the Score

Chapter 14

John's (Number Four) POV

I watch Adam go into the arena with a huge grin on his face. I'm now pumped up and I can feel my palms beginning to glow slightly. I can finally be myself and give a little back to the Capitol . It's been hard trying to keep the legacies a secret, but now is our chance to show our skills.

I feel the ground underneath me rumble slightly, which I know is a shock wave from Adam's legacy. I hide my slight smile while some of the other tributes whisper to each other thinking we had an earthquake. I can hear a few gasps in from behind the door. I hear the District 3 girl get called in next, Amber Dridion. I'm sure that Adam made a good impression and hopefully scared a few of those idiot judges.

Everything is quiet for a while until my name is called.

"John Smith."

I stand up without hesitation and go through the door. I'm back in the arena with all the amazing tools and weapons. I look up at these Gamemakers, many of them are talking amongst themselves and eating the lavish food placed out for them.

I decide that I have the freedom to do what I want, so I decide to start off normally before I get their attention. I go over to the knife throwing stations and pick up a few. I twirl the blade and begin to throw. I'm not great at it, I miss a few of the targets. I can hear the snickers as the judges watch my attempts to impress them. I decide to kick it up a notch.

With an almost wicked grin across my face, I secretly light up my Lumen and ignite the handle of the next knife, and this time I use my telekinesis to make sure it hits the mark. One of the women Gamemakers in the viewing gallery screams when she sees that the dagger is on fire. I lift up another set of knives with my mind, this time on front of everyone. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see their stunned faces. I activate my Lumen and hold it over one of the hovering blades. Slowly, but surely, the metal begins to heat up and almost glow blue under the light shining from my palm. I can hear partial screams and even gasps for air. The blade is now glowing fully blue, something I never knew I could do with this power, it's as if I'm charging the energy within the object. I make sure that everyone is watching and I pitch it with my mind in full view, spearing through the head of the dummy and staying there. I clench my fist and the head of the dummy ignites in flames. I subtly walk over and touch the fire. I can practically hear the screams and the whispers of what the hell I am doing? I let the fire slowly spread onto my arms and consume me piece by piece. Pretty soon I'm a walking fire ball. I can see the petrified faces and I look over at some of the targets near the archery range. I create a fire ball and pitch it at the target. I get a direct hit. I create a few more fire balls and take aim. One by one I ignite the targets, all while covered in fire. I suddenly feel empowered to put more fire power and I push down with my fire, blasting myself upwards into the air, up towards the rafters. I manage to hover there for a few moments and look at the viewing gallery. I push myself forward with the power of the flames and weave around the ropes course, landing on another obstacle course across the room. I extinguish my flames and practically take a bow in glee. I watch as a few members of staff use fire extinguishers to put out my mess.

"Thank you..." I say and walk towards a pair of stunned Peacekeepers guarding the door. "Take that back to your president." I add before pushing through the doors, feeling like I'm on top of the world. It feels like the most satisfying training session ever. I am only in shorts now, but I've also discovered that I can make things glow blue. That is the crowning achievement. I go upstairs and decide to shower to get the smoke off. The entire time, still smiling away.

Number Five's POV

I wait for my chance in the arena. John's female district partner heads in and as they do, I can smell the odor of smoke. John must have become a fire ball for the judges, that's his trademark move. I'm trying to decide how I should make my entrance, but I'm still reeling from the way I treated Clove's district partner at lunch. I'm sure she hates me by now, but I guess...I couldn't help it. It's the weirdest feeling, but right then, I just couldn't stand seeing some jerk push around the weaker guys, which is weird because I lived with the Mogs and that's part of their motto. I guess since I re-joined the team, I have this craving for fair treatment, mostly because everyone treats me like crap, well almost everyone. Something inside me just snapped when they laughed at my sister while she was trying to help someone. I think it might be the "big brother" protection thing, we as siblings may fight, but we stick up for each other when the chips are down. I can't say that I don't see Aralia as my sister yet, but after this, I guess that's being tested. She treats me like an equal and has been the only one in the group who hasn't tried to kill me.I guess there is some good in me after all.

I start to think about Clove. I never got to fully look her in the face after I collared the douche bag and threatened him. I couldn't tell if she hated me or was even angry with me for fighting with a guy she could be close to. I don't think it is very likely, Clove seems like the kind of girl who doesn't make strong connections, let alone cares what happens to others. So why am I even thinking that I have a shot with her? She probably doesn't even see me in that way. I shouldn't even bother, but why do I still feel like this? I can't stop thinking about her. Her face, her grin, her skills. I can't understand it.

I scratch the back of my now re- growing hair and re-adjust my patch. Clove is something special and I really...

"Bolt Anteriot."

That's me cue.

I stand up and push through the door. I see the petty and weak Gamemakers eating their fancy food and talking amongst each other. Once I get to the center of the room, a couple of them point at me and smirk, obviously seeing my eye patch as either a joke or a reason to lower my score. I go over to the weight section and lift up a few, tossing them around for the hell of it. These are nothing compared to the training I had with the Mogs. I realize that they aren't really paying attention to me, so I decide to start floating in the air, showing off my flight.

I wait a few minutes until I hear the gasps and slight screams in horror as I float towards them. Several of them cower in fear and try to find weapons to defend themselves. I use my telekinesis to float an apple from the fancy fruit bowl on one of the tables towards me and I take a bite out of it.

"What?" I say, acting like I'm floating six feet in the air is no big deal, which it isn't. "Ever seen a guy levitate before?"

My joke is met with silence. Once I finish off the apple, I toss the core down at one of the Gamemakers feet.

"Any of you want to see something?"

I don't give them a chance to answer, my ball bearings being stored in my eye socket shifts and I turn silver in front of them. Another round of gasps and looks of utter horror. I fly around a bit and decide to have some fun with the dummies below. I float down to the knives station and pick up a few. I begin to circle one of the dummies and I put the blades in at random, like a vulture attacking prey. Once the knives have pierced one dummy, I switch balls and become red rubber, extending one of my arms out and grabbing the dummy around the neck, pulling it up to me. I turn silver again and punch the head clean off. I float back to the ground and do a skilled assault of the remaining dummies. I punch, kick, hover, decapitate, rip and commit various other assaults on the rubber humans. I feel empowered and I take my anger out on things that cannot fight back.

Once I've pummeled the dummies, I turn back to flesh and give them all an grin.

"Not bad for a guy with one eye?" I ask and then go towards the exit.

I take the elevator up to Clove's floor. I'm just about to knock on the door when I see Clove walking up towards me.

"I knew you'd come find me sooner or later."

I drop my hand from the door and turn to face her. I start to sweat slightly and my heart beats against my chest.

"You did?" I say, trying to sound shocked. "That's a little unexpected Knives."

"I know you probably think I'm pissed about the Cato thing, but I'm not. He was being a douche and you had every right to take him down a peg or two."

"Yeah, he was being a jerk." I say, not sure where this is going.

"Anyway, I wanted to let you know that you're welcome to join our alliance with District 1 if you want to. You've proven yourself more than worthy."

My mind begins to race. An alliance? That would be great, I could help them and get closer to Clove.

Suddenly my sister's voice pops into my head. _What about the others? You were our friend. You have a family!_ I can' tell if this is her talking to me, or my conscience talking. I realize that the Garde all hate me, so we're not friends and only one who actually cares is my sister and she kind of has to care for me anyways. We may have been the same species, but we are far from allies. I do realize that this will pretty much destroy my chances of being trusted again, but where was the trust in the first place?

I look down at Clove, she's waiting for an answer.

"Uh... you sure Cato won't hate me?"

"He might, but he's never had someone stand up to him before. He was impressed by how strong you are. Honestly he thought you were pretty chunky and slow."

That jab at my weight hurt, but when I get Cato alone, I can wring his scrawny neck. There's no way he could beat me in a fight. I am an alien after all.

"Sure, I'd love... " I stop and turn bright red. "I really would like being part of your group."

Clove smirks at the "love" part. I sounded really girlie there and it's not a good way to impress a girl you like.

My heart starts beating harder again and I get a little closer. On one pure impulse, I lean forward and kiss her.

She pushes back immediately and looks at me stunned.

My mind races to come up with an excuse, but all I can manage is some lame joke.

"That's one way to seal the deal."

"What the hell was that?" she says in disbelief. She glares at me, very shocked.

"I think it's called a kiss and I..." I snicker.

Clove slaps me across the face. It doesn't hurt physically, but from her it burns. She grabs my face and pulls me and kisses me back.

Her lips are so firm and she tastes like something bitter or even salty, but I want to explore further. My heart is out of control and my mind is racing. I want to hold onto her and never let go. She's someone I like by choice and no one can take that away. I hold onto the backs of her shoulders and pull her closer to me. Although I've never been kissed before, I think I can catch on pretty quick. I drag my hand up and cup her face, running my fingers through her hair. Her hands remains planted around my neck, but eventually her fingers a sliding up and down the back of my neck, exploring our connection further. I have a sneaking suspicion that like me, she's new at this too.

_I want her... I need her. _I think to myself. _I've never felt this way before... We have to win..._

Number Three's POV

I sit next to Marina as all us Loric watch Six go in. I know Six will be amazing, like she always is and I can't help but feel slightly jealous about her skills. Even though she was held captive by the Mogs, she's strong, the strongest out of all of us and we love her for it. I think of her as true Loric warrior, one who has no ends and means to what she does, it is a constant journey for her, endure the burden that we all carry, but sometimes I feel she carries it more than the rest of us. She's separated from her crush Sam, while the rest of us are either crushing or already in love. I know that John and Christina are also separated from those they love, but at least they know it's love. With Six...it's a coin flip. I know that Glimmer and I have feelings for each other, I'm just not sure where it might go. I've heard from Christina that Five has a crush on the District 2 girl, Clove, and I'm not sure if that's going to go forward. I look at Marina and Eight and my heart just melts. The strongest couple that was nearly separated forever, which brought them even closer.

The one thing that I cannot deny about Six is her strength, but sometimes I think that she's being **too** strong and doesn't open herself up. I guess it's the exterior to protect herself from being hurt. She lost her Cepan, Katarina to the Mogs like all of us did, but Six had to watch her die and was powerless to do anything about it. One watched Hilde put a fight before her death, Conrad, Two's Cepan did to. Kai was ambushed and stabbed in front of me, but I wasn't as helpless, he told me to run. John's guardian, Henri died in battle against the Mogadorians. Albert, Five's Cepan, died of illness and old age. Marina's, Adelina, died in battle, finally fighting for Lorien and Eight's, Reynolds, was ambushed by a human traitor and slain, forcing Eight to escape. Nine sadly was forced to kill his Cepan, Sandor, but at least he was able to do something. Christina's Cepan, Annie, took her own life to save both of them. Ella's guardian, Crayton died in battle in some Loric cave that was destroyed in the ensuing conflict. I feel for Six and I know she pushes people away to protect herself more than them.

I swear that I can hear the gasps and screams as Six totally kicks ass in there. She's definitely a fighter.

"Ashton Oakly" I hear.

I swallow hard and slowly stand up.

"Good luck" Marina whispers to me.

"Thanks" I whisper back.

I'm pretty slow walking towards the entrance to the arena. Once I enter, I see a very shaken up set of Gamemakers, still trying to keep their sanity after what Six must have shown them. I know I'm about to rock the boat a little further. I decide to start off simply and let them relax, let them think that I'm normal for a little while. I go over to the spear station and pick up a few. I'm very good with spears, usually because they were my only weapon and method of getting food.

I spear several dummies through the chest easily and hit other various targets with ease. I decide to do some knot tying too. I create a climbing rope for myself, attaching it to one of the steel rafters. I climb up and pull myself upwards. Once on the rafter, I decide to show the anti-gravity, I walk along the rafters. At first, no one really seems to notice, so I start jogging along the roof and then stand on one of the walls.

I decide to start messing around with this new legacy I've developed. I make the lights flicker on and off a few times. That gets their attention. I picture some colours in my head and make streaks across the room with my hands. I don't even know what to call this legacy, some ability to control light. i continue to make various patterns in front of the judges. They seem a little freaked out. I decide to show off my anti-gravity legacy a little more.

I go down to the floor and levitate a few spears to me. Once I have them, I begin to run up the wall, taking aim at the dummies across the room. Once on the ceiling, I can almost feel the energy within my hands. I feel like the electricity in the overhead lights is drawn to me and charging me up. I reach out slowly and a long spark of electricity connects me to the light. It's not brief, it remains there and it doesn't hurt, it actually kind of tickles. I take a few steps back and the spark follows me, slowly growing in strength. The light in which the electricity was powering begins to get dimmer as I seem to absorb the now ball of energy. All at once, the light blacks out. I just sucked all the power into my one hand. I decide to try something. I hold the spear in one hand and slowly bring the energy closer. I intent to combine them full.

When the two make contact...the spear becomes electrified , small wisps of energy surround the now electrified spear. It glows slightly and every so often flickers. I raise the spear above my head and take aim at an untouched dummy across the room. I can feel as if the light energy is also charging me. Making me stronger and more confident. I release the charged spear and watch it sail through the air and spear the mannequin in the chest. Once contact is made, the dummy becomes electrified and the energy spreads through the body, scattering in all directions and frying the thing to a crisp. Once the power has move through the dummy, the burned remains catch fire. The Gamemakers gasp and several supervisors hurry to put out the fire.

Extremely satisfied, I walk along the ceiling, then climb down the wall and walk out of the room like a normal person. I go up to my floor and go up to room. I see a note taped on my door.

I recognize the hand immediately as Glimmers and I read it eagerly.

_Survival Man,_

_Your poetry still needs some work, but everything that you said was very flattering and made me appreciate you more. I know our time is fleeting, but I'd like to see you again, later tonight on the roof after the scores have been read. I can't wait to see you again and the light show that night was really spectacular. Hopefully lightning will strike twice and a similar display will happen again. I know you liked it and I feel I need to see you one more time before the Games._

_Can't wait for tonight 3_

_Glimmer_

I'm smiling on the inside and the outside. I go into my room and I lie on my bed thinking about and her beautiful face. My heart is beating a million times a minute. She's my everything. She brings out a side I never knew I had ad I know that we belong together. I fall asleep while waiting for Marina to come up, all the while dreaming about her.

Marina's (Number Seven) POV

Watching Six and Three go in makes me really nervous. I know that she'll kick ass, but I'm not her. I'm nowhere near as strong as she nor are my legacies as strong as hers. I begin to shake slightly. Three puts his arm over my shoulder, despite the fact that I'm giving off a cold aura. Three is my rock, I see him like a big brother, even though I'm older than he is. He is sweet, sensitive and understanding. He's no Eight, but he's just as strong as the rest of us. I look over at Eight who smiles at me and I blush slightly.

I don't know what I'd ever do without him.

"Marina Adeline."

I stand up and attempt to show as much confidence as possible. I walk through the doors and walk towards the center of the room. I notice a burned mess of what I think was a practice dummy covered in fire extinguisher goo. Whatever Three or Six did, it really must have spooked these judges and did a little bit of property damage.

I look up at who will be judging me and I can see that the colour has not returned to their faces. I decide to let them calm down a bit before I show them my legacies. I do some basic drills that I learned in a few stations like the edible plants and fire making. When I look back up at them, they're back to eating the array of fancy foods laid out for them and whispering to each other.

I start to run towards some of the combat stations, I hardly have to try with my speed. I throw a few spears and knives at an incredible, speed not really caring if I miss or not. In fact, just to show off even more, I speed between every station within a few seconds. I know besides my Cryokinesis, this is the only legacy I can show to them. Night vision would involve killing the power, underwater breathing would require fluid and healing... That could mean I'd be whisked away by some Peacekeepers to go to some of the hospitals to heal all their sick and wounded. I also seriously doubt John showed his healing either. They are more worthy people than them who deserve a helping hand.

I figure that the best way to show off my speed would be in hand to hand combat. I go over and wait for an instructor to come and join me. I know I'm not a great fighter, but my speed gives me an advantage.

"Come at me first" I state firmly.

He shrugs and charges, I run at a high speed and circle behind him twice. I give him a punch in the back before he even knew what hit him. He tries again and I easily dodge his punches, hardly breaking a sweat I might add. When he charges at me, I run behind him and pin his hand behind his back. I release him and step off the mats.

I go over to where some of the dummies are. I concentrate really hard. i think of all the anger I have built up inside me. My anger at Five the traitor, my anger at my cruel mentor my anger of being helpless to help Ella, my anger at President Snow and his death games and of course my anger at the Mogadorians who took everything from us.

I feel the cold spreading up my spine, angry and bitter like before. I can hear the crackling of ice spreading across the floor as I summon the ice to do my bidding. I can see my breath and I give a small smile. I bring myself back to when Eight was almost killed, the rage that pumped adrenaline through me and made me strong. I motion upwards and huge ice chunks come up from the ground, creating a barrier around me, almost like a shield. I make them as tall as I possibly can but leave an area in front of me so I can still see the targets I break off a piece of ice and form it into a smaller and much sharper weapon. I take aim at the dummies and I release them at lightning fast speed. The ice pierces the dummies in the eyes and so on. I make a few round chunks that look like railroad spikes and force them forward into the dummies hearts.

I suddenly get an idea. I take aim at another dummy and make an ice piece come up and impale his foot, keeping him in my sights. I release another chunk of razor sharp ice and aim for the head. It meets its target, taking out the eye and most of the head, exposing the white foam material inside. I smile again, feeling very satisfied.

"How do you think that kid in five lost his eye?" I ask the judges.

I hear a few gasps. I bring down the ice tower and walk towards the exits.

Before I do, I stop and turn to the stunned audience.

"Anyone want a little ice for their drinks?"

I'm laughing on the inside and I walk out, taking the elevator to Christina's floor. I go through to her room and wait by the bed.

It's about fifteen minutes when Eight evaporates into my room. I run up and hug him tightly. He's slightly out of breath and feels really warm. I can tell he had a good work out and probably scared a few people witless. We sit down and cuddle on the bed, waiting for the call.

Christina's (Number Ten) POV

I'm waiting with Antonio who still smells of broccoli stew and fried chicken. he's done his best to clean himself up, but I know the stains are going to be noticeable when he walks in. It wouldn't take long for word to spread about the fight and how Aruvun stood up for the others. I knew he was capable of change, you just have to keep hoping.

"Antonio Mantoia"

Antonio looks at me and swallows hard.

"You'll do fine." I whisper to him and give him a reassuring smile. "Just do your best."

Antonio stands up and limps slightly into the arena. The fall he took re-activated the pain in his knee. I start to worry about whether the Gamemakers will notice and deduct marks from his performance. I re-assure myself that as long as he doesn't run or climb, he'll be fine.

I feel kind of alone right now. I'm the last Garde to go in and it kind of sucks that I don't have someone to talk to with telepathy. I begin to twirl my hair slightly, a bad habit I've had since I was a little girl. I usually stop this by putting my hair up. I pull my locks up and scan the remaining tributes. There's eleven and twelve with me. I learn all their names, Thrash, Rue, Katniss and Peeta. Each of them is really nervous, as anyone would be. Thrash seems very hardened and aggressive. He's had a hard upbringing as far as I can tell, his parents being killed by Peacekeepers when he was four, leaving him and his sister to be raised by their grandmother. He sounds really angry in his thoughts, he hates anything to do with the Capitol, as anyone would, but he does have a soft spot for Rue, who's only twelve, the eldest of her 5 siblings. She has a new baby sister at home and a little brother who didn't want to see her go. She kind of reminds me of Anali and how I had to leave her to escape to earth, never to see her again. I'm hoping Rue and Thresh live long enough for us to help them.

I'm not the only one who thinks that Rue is special, Katniss Everdeen sees a lot of her little sister, Primrose in Rue and she hates the Games just as much as any of the Garde does. I learn that Katniss is a skilled archer and determined to fulfill the promise to her sister to try and win. I hate to break it to Katniss, but I think all the tributes promised that to their loved ones. I'm just hoping we can ruin the games enough to fulfill those promises. Her partner, Peeta I've already made a connection with and know he has a big heart. I know that he and Rue will be the easiest to convince to join the fight.

"Christina Walton." the robotic voice says.

Standing up, I walk with confidence into the adjacent arena. I walk into the middle of the arena and look up at the Gamemakers, dressed in their deep purple robes and whisper amongst themselves. I can tell in their minds that they've been scared witless by all the Garde, so what's one more heart attack for them. It'll keep them young.

I start over on the ropes course and scale with ease. I show off some of my fancy acrobatics for them, acting almost like a spider. Once I hit the mats below, I do a back handspring, two cartwheels and a forward flip. I stick the landing and I look up at the Gamemakers. They nod in slight approval, but I know I'm about to really get their attention. I grab my rubber ball from my bracelet and turn clear. I tuck and roll, making myself almost like a soccer ball and roll towards the viewing gallery. I unroll myself and do my gymnastics routine once more, this time with a lot more power and air. I land near the weights and lift them up with ease. I turn the same metal material of the weight and I pitch a few against the wall before turning stainless steel. I walk over to some dummies and treat them like Mogadorians, I'm able to smash my fist through one and take off the head of another. I do full 360 and do a lot more damage to my "opponents".

When I'm done and back to normal, I grab a knife and slide it across my arm. A few of the females shriek in horror, thinking I'm about to kill myself in front of them. I hold up my wrist to show them that no damage has been done. I use my telekinesis to shoot some sharp instruments at other targets. Once I'm satisfied, I walk out of the arena with a big smile of satisfaction. I go up to my floor and I find Marina and Eight cuddling. Once they see me they smile and I tell them what I did. They nod and laugh when I describe what the Gamemakers were thinking, I even told them that one almost wet his pants in fear. We laugh and carry on with each other, waiting...


	16. Chapter 15: Messages

Chapter 15

Christina's (Number Ten) POV

I leave Marina and Eight in peace and go down the hall to the main room. I stare out one of the many windows and think about the others out there. One, Two, Sarah, Mark, Sam, Blake and Ella...Poor Ella she's so helpless now and we're trapped here, waiting for the games to begin.

I sit down on a plush couch and take out my sketch book. I start working on a picture of willow tree near a small babbling brook. I let my mind wander to the next few days,

An entire day of training for our interview and then we're being dressed up like show dogs and having to talk to this annoying guy called Cesar Flickerman about how we feel and stuff. Then it's game time... we're going into the arena...

Nine is strenuously objecting to this, but I personally think that if we're constantly in front of the cameras, the true nature of the Mogadorians will be revealed and we can hopefully get the districts to wise up about their president.

I'm working on a willow tree when the phone rings in my bedroom. Immediately I drop what's in my hands and run for the door. I slip through and Marina's on the phone. Eight is practically on top of her waiting for news. I call the others with my telepathy and stand right in front of Marina to get the news.

Marina listens intently and I rub my hands together. Nine, Adam and Three climb through the back window within minutes of my message. I leave the door open so Six and John can sneak in. My heat is pounding like crazy and I'm scared that the news is not good. I am slightly re-assured now that Blake is with the others as a full team and are able to protect each other as well as Ella.

John and Six sneak in and close the door behind them. The entire room goes quiet as we listen for any re-assurance or worry.

We see Marina's face fall and her eyes well up a bit. She looks at all of us and shakes her head. No change...

Poor Ella is what we're all thinking about. I feel like Nine maybe right now, we need to get to Ella to protect her and hope for change.

When Marina hangs up the phone, Eight wraps his arms around her and kisses her head.

"No change..." Marina says softly. "She's still unconscious and on the the odd occasion going back into the seizure state. She's constantly screaming and sweating, like she's having the worst nightmare ever... Blake was doing his best to keep her hydrated and comfortable. The others just got there late last night. Sarah misses you John and Blake misses you Christina. Sam misses you Six and One misses you Adam."

The four of us smile slightly, knowing that our loved ones are thinking of us. I guess that is some solace, everyone is together and can even take shifts in sleeping for looking after Ella, but the comfort stops there. If Ella gets any worse, she may be hospitalized and then our secrets could be blown to bits and getting the others in serious trouble. My stomach flips when I think about Peacekeepers descending upon them. I know for a fact that they are under a strict training regime and constant brainwashing. They believe that they literally are "Peace" keepers and that their service to the Capitol is good and wholesome. Only I truly know the blood lust they harbor deep inside their minds, a lust similar to their own President. They never hesitate to shoot or attack the innocent and they never question orders. They're the human versions of vat-born Mogadorians, expendable, but loyal to the end. I shudder slightly to think what the Capitol would do to a soldier who hesitated for a single second about ending someone's life. Probably thrown out or "disposed" of like a used Kleenex... there's always one more to take its place.

We're all silent for awhile, sad and contemplating our next move.

Eventually it's time for the scores to be read out. I turn the T.V. on and we all hang around on my bed watching Cesar Flickerman read out the scores with our pictures next to them.

They start with District 1, Marvel, the male tribute, scores a nine. Three's crush Glimmer also scores a nine. Cato scores a ten and so does Clove. When her image is flashed on screen, I'm watching my brother's face, seeing if it changes at all. I know he likes her and I hope it works out.

Adam's score is next, he scores a seven.

Nine slaps him on the back. "Not bad for a pasty face."

I shoot Nine a glare and the girl Amber scores a six.

John's up next and he scores an 8.

"Good job Johnny boy!" Nine compliments him for his work.

When Five's angered and eye patched face flashes on screen, he pulls a nine. I can see the grin spread across his face. He definitely feels proud, especially since his district partner only scores a five. Nine however, doesn't say a thing to him, with the whole traitor thing.

Six pulls a ten, but not to any of our surprise, she earns what she gets. She's up there with Cato and Clove as serious threats this year. Nine gives her a side hug and she playfully punches him back.

Three is next and he pulls a seven. I can see that Three is mostly pleased with his score, mostly because he knows he's not as skilled as the others.

"Nice job Frodo!" Nine says, elbowing him in the stomach. Three shifts over to where I'm sitting and puts his feet up.

Marina scores a seven as well and she also understood because she could only show so many combative legacies.

Eight is up next and he scores a nine. He did some serious shape shifting for the judges and they must have been impressed by the many unusual forms he can take. Nine and Eight bump fists and Nine slugs Eight's shoulder for good measure.

Nine is next and I can see that he has his fingers crossed. He pulls a Nine. I can see a small frown on his face.

"What the hell?!" he groans, "I deserved at least ten or more. I was working my ass off."

"Chill out..." John says. "It's only what the judges thought you deserved."

"To be honest." I add. "By the time you and I were showing the legacies, they were seeing a few repeats and they may have gotten board."

"Still no excuse." Nine grumbles, which I'm glad will shut him up for a little while.

My face comes up in my classic ponytail. I really don't care what I get, because these games are oppressive and stupid anyways. The number eight flashes on screen and I can't help but feel some pride in earning my number.

Antonio only scores a five and I guess that's for his bad knee. It can be a disadvantage.

Thresh is given a nine and little Rue a seven. Peeta pulls an eight and Katniss is given an eleven. That impresses me, but this means that she's a threat for the other tributes to target.

I shut the T.V. off and I tell the others to get some rest and we'll talk tomorrow. I can tell that Three is relieved, he has to go see Glimmer on the roof and the rest of us are just tired. Marina, Eight and Adam evaporate as well as Six and John. Nine climbs down a floor and I tell him not to be so hard on himself.

I'm alone now in my room and it feels fairly barren. I'm used to company, but now I have some time to reflect.

I lay back and picture the group of rogues out there to protect Ella. I wish we were there helping her, keeping her safe and we could all be with the ones we love. I see us as a big family, relying on each other and if one is in trouble, we should have each other's back.

I start picturing poor Ella, frustrated and possibly dehydrated, weakened and stuck in a nightmare that will never go away. I wish I could get inside her mind, just for a moment, to tell her that we're all thinking of her and we haven't abandoned her.

I sit up...

Maybe I can...

I lay back down, eager to try. I close my eyes and begin to put myself in a relaxed state. I can slowly feel my conscious drifting further and further away, but it's difficult to control it. I do this to go to sleep, but I've never had an intention in mind before. I'm falling through blackness and I do my best to picture Ella in my head. Her curly ringlets, her tiny mousy face and her big brown eyes. I want to get in touch with her, read her mind. The distance is making it hard, but I keep the picture of Ella in my head the whole time.

I start to see an array of colours, all jumbled and spiraling out of control. I start to see flashes of images. They're faint and jumbled and there are voices that overlap each other and basically say nothing. I feel like I'm getting a headache. I need to talk to Ella, I need to get inside her head!

I feel like I'm reaching out into the oblivion and trying to grasp at something that is just out of reach.

"Ella!" I yell into the darkness, but I seriously doubt anyone can hear me, it's like I have no voice at all. "Ella talk to me!"

Nothing. I just want to hear her voice, any indication that she'll be okay.

"ELLA!" I yell with all the power I have in my body. I'm floating in nothingness and the darkness of the human mind.

"Christina!" is the response in the distance.

My heart jumps into my throat.

"Ella! I'm here!" I yell excitedly.

"Help me please!" she begs in what sounds like a raspy voice.

"Where are you?!" I scream. I want to run, but I have no feeling in my legs to do so. I need to help her.

"I'm here!"

"Where?!" I respond.

"Go into the light!" she yells out.

"I can't see it!"

"Look!"

I squint into the distance, but all I see is black. I'm floating in infinite blackness and I feel scared, for Ella and myself.

"Please..." I hear Ella beg. "Find me!"

I can feel, if they really are tears, burning my eyes. I want to save her. We need her. I feel so helpless to do something.

"Ella! we all love you and we're worried about you."

Suddenly, a light appears in the distance. It gradually gets closer and I can slowly see shapes as my eyes adjust. I feel like I'm stepping into another vision, the ones that haunted me for so long. The ones Ra created to torment me.

When the light reaches me, I can see my hands and pretty soon my whole body is pulled into the vision. I check to make sure I'm okay, but when my eyes look up at the scene in front of me, I know I won't be for long.

Everything is on fire! The buildings, the streets, the people...oh god the people! Slowly dissolving to black corpses in front of me. The flames are so bright and the people are moving so fast that I can't even see what's happening at all. I need to know where I am. I know I am merely and visitor in a vision when a person passes through me. I don't know if I'll be stuck here, but I need to find Ella.

I decide telepathy is the best way to contact her.

Ella I'm in the light, Where are you?

Nothing at first, but the chaos reigns around me. Buildings are collapsing, killing more people, the ones who haven't burned to ash. I want to walk, but I don't know where to go.

Ella I'm here! I yell into my head. I need to know where you...

I never finish my sentence when the flames suddenly part and make a path for me to walk down. The screams still continues, but at least I'm not helpless anymore.

Once I reach the end of the wall of fire, I notice that I'm standing at what was a very nice house at one point. You can still see the pillars that once supported the magnificent porch, but everything is black and the place has been defamed in every way imaginable. I figure out that I must be in the Capitol, no house like that would be so fancy and luxurious. I notice a sea of what appears to be Mogadorians dressed in black robes. They're all kneeling before the big house, in front of a raised platform. All their ugly bald heads match and it's like looking at the world's ugliest rock concert. I look forward to what their staring at, but you don't need to guesses to know who will be there.

Sure enough, Setrakus Ra, in all his ugly glory sits on the platform, dressed in a black and purple robe with weird designs on it. He holds a golden staff and he sits on a chair, crafted from some kind of gold and silver material. Probably raided all the Capitol's houses to get all that.

I can see his scrunched up eyes and his famous purple scar as well as... I can see on his chest what appears to be blue medallions all hung in a necklace. I squint and recognize the symbols. These are ours! I can only think that these are his trophies and in this vision, we're all dead. Slain by...

My eyes inch over to beside this gold and silver throne and my heart stops and drops.

I see an older Ella, probably seventeen or older sitting next to him. Her cute face and auburn hair have given way to an elongated face and jet black hair. her eyes are red, destroying the bright brown that I've come to know and love. She's wearing a similar set of robes and she sits on her own throne made of gold.

I can hardly believe what I'm seeing when suddenly, four people pass through me. I can see two are prisoners and the others are leading them forward. the Mogadorians begin to chant some weird dialect as the two prisoners are led towards Ra. I try to get closer, to see the faces of the prisoners and my jaw drops and I think I may fall over dead.

The prisoners are Six and Nine! Both have been beaten badly and look like they've gone through hell, but what really hits home for me is who's leading them. My brother and Clove! Both are dressed in black armour and have symbols painted on their faces.

My heart sinks into the ground where I stand. My brother... I can feel tears coming to my eyes. My brother... betrayed us again...

Nine and Six are forced to kneel before Ra, who grins at them.

"How the mighty have fallen. The once great Capitol is now our kingdom." He laughs in an almost manical fashion. All the other Mogadorians laugh in such a way that makes me want to vomit.

Nine and Six say nothing and avert their eyes. I now know what this is...

A public execution! I start to run towards Nine and Six, screaming their names, but I have no voice. I try to grab them and I even try to face my brother, yelling at him to stop, tears rolling down my face. I want to just want to shake him, but my fingers and arms pass through him and he doesn't hesitate.

"Are there any last words that my heir would like to say to them..." Ra turns to Ella.

ELLA?! Heir? To what? The Mogadorian invasion, the Earth itself?

I look up at Ella who grins and stands next to Ra. She is still fairly tiny compared to him, but a wicked smile becomes bigger on her face.

"Execute them" she says in a dark and cold voice, one that is not her own.

"NO!" I yell at them.

I try to run, but where? I can't do anything, I'm just a ghost, helpless to watch sweet innocent Ella order execution of two of her best friends. Friends who loved her and cared for her. Made her strong.

"Ella Please!" I beg, tears still in my eyes. She heard me before, why can't she...

I suddenly realize that I talked to her with telepathy.

Ella! What are you doing? Please stop this! I scream into my head.

I can't... I hear the voice I know and love come from this evil girl's head. It's all him, I can't...

I have to watch in horror as Ra raises a sword and brings it down on Six's neck. I want to look away, but I can't, I watch Six's head fly onto the ground in front of me. Eyes closed, a dignified look. Even in death, Six will never be afraid.

I hear another sound and Nines head rolls next to Six's.

I want to vomit, but the bile is caught in my throat.

I look up at Ella who stands proudly next to Setrakus, not a single tear is shed for those who were like brother and sister to her.

Why is he doing this? I ask, knowing the real Ella is inside.

He says I'm his heir and he's going to keep me here! I hear her voice from within.

Until what?

Until he can...

Suddenly, the vision begins to blur and I feel my self being pulled away by an unseen force.

"NO!" I yell out. "NO! ELLA!"

The image of Ra, Ella, Five Clove and the Mogadorians begins to fade into the distance. I'm fighting with whatever strength I have to fight. I need to her her words. She was going to. The shapes and lights become indistinct and blackness is creeping back in again. In a last desperate attempt I yell out from my mind.

ELLA! We all love you, don't believe any of this. We will find you!

I wake up with a jolt on my bed. I'm sweating bullets and my throat is dry. I roll over and try to shake the visions from my mind. It all felt so real...Could it be? Was that the future?

I feel like I want to throw up and I'm so dizzy, I can't focus on anything.

I stumble to my door and down the hall to the bathroom. I go in and sip water from the tap to help me calm down. Eventually my vision comes back and I look at myself in the mirror. My eyes are bloodshot and I'm red with sweat dribbling down me. I splash some cold water on my face and take a deep breath.

Ella... Ella sent me a message. I need to warn the others before this dream becomes a reality.


	17. Chapter 16: New Pawn in the Games

I wake up with a jolt on my bed. I'm sweating bullets and my throat is dry. I roll over and try to shake the visions from my mind. It all felt so real...Could it be? Was that the future?

I feel like I want to throw up and I'm so dizzy, I can't focus on anything.

I stumble to my door and down the hall to the bathroom. I go in and sip water from the tap to help me calm down. Eventually my vision comes back and I look at myself in the mirror. My eyes are bloodshot and I'm red with sweat dribbling down me. I splash some cold water on my face and take a deep breath.

Ella... Ella sent me a message. I need to warn the others before this dream becomes a reality.

I awaken in the training room, not knowing how I got here. In a corner across from where I am, a dark figure stands in silence.

"Well, it looks you're awake." The figure says. He moves from the shadows, closer to me. I can see his features clearly. The man's skin is very pale and has eyes as black as tar.

"Wh-who are you?" I ask. I feel nervous and I back away from the strange person standing over me. He wears a black uniform similar to that of the Peacekeepers.

"I am Commander Deltoch of the Mogadorian Army." He answers, taking a bunch of pride in his title.

"What do you want with me?" I ask Deltoch. I start to move towards the knife rack.

"We'll," The Mogadorian starts. "I need you to make sure a certain group of tributes do not survive the Games."

"And if I help you, what do I get in return?" I ask, now holding a knife in my left hand, which is currently concealed.

"As soon as the last of these tributes are killed, then you'll be spared from the Games."

"How will you do that?" I say, confused at Deltoch's words.

"I will have a hovercraft pick you up from the arena once the task is done." The Mogadorian pulls a folded sheet of paper from his uniform pocket and hands it me.

I unfold it and read the names next to each picture.

_Adamus Sutkeh_

_John Smith_

_Bolt Anteteriot_

_Starla Wilton_

_Marina Adeline_

_Hannu Jammila_

_Milo Anchort_

_Christina Walton_

"Can you do this?" He asks me. I pause, remembering how Christina made me the new costume of the parade; John helping me with knife throwing; Bolt taking on Cato when he bullied me and a few other tributes. I sigh, wanting badly to survive, I want to see my sister again and keep that promise that I would come home to her, but not to kill my friends.

"I'll do it." I say, not looking at Deltoch.

"Good." Deltoch replies. "Then I guess I'll see you in a few days."

"See ya." I mutter as I turn, walking out of the training room, wondering how I'll be able to kill these people without being killed myself!


	18. Chapter 17: Back and Forth

Three's POV

I wake up with a huge smile on my face. I had the most amazing time with Glimmer last night. We just kissed and looked out over the city at the lights and the sound of wind chimes, created a romantic atmosphere. We even saw the sunset and start to rise when we retired. She said she wanted to get at least a little sleep before tonight's interview. I told her that she'd look beautiful no matter how much sleep she had. She laughed and kissed me. She's the most amazing girl in the entire world and I can't believe that I met her. I'm the luckiest guy in the world and she is the most beautiful girl in the entire universe.

I sit up in bed and just picture her beautiful and lively smile. I long to hear her laugh again and see her pure green eyes light up. I know I'm not the most attractive boy, but she picked me over everyone else.

I saunter down to breakfast and sit next Marina. Her eyes are bloodshot from either lack of sleep or crying. I hold her hand and give her a gentle squeeze of reassurance. She returns the gesture and we prepare ourselves for one hell of a day. It's prep for our interviews, with our mentors... I don't know if I'm ready for this... Marina is stuck with our female mentor and I have some elderly guy who won like 20 years ago. I think he's an alcoholic too because he hasn't shown up at all through training or anything else and when he does show up, he's always drinking a bottle of something.

Our female mentor comes in and sits down across from us. She doesn't say anything. In fact neither of us has spoken to her since I blew up at her for calling Marina and I don't think she really wants to talk to us either. We eat in silence and hardly look at each other.

When the Avoxes come and take everything away. Marina stands up and walks off with our one mentor and I'm left in the dining room alone. I have no idea where the male mentor is nor do I really have faith that he'll actually show up anyways.

I start fiddling with the lights, practicing this legacy that I've acquired. I make the light change colour and force it to flash in different areas of the room, almost like a strobe light. No one's around, so I can do what I please.

Eventually I hear someone stumble down the hall. I turn to see a very aged and scraggly man stumbling towards me, holding a bottle of either whiskey or champagne. He practically falls again when he stumbles over an adjacent stool in the sitting room. I manage to catch him with my telekinesis until he stands up again. He wobbles over to the table and sits in the chair across from me. I can see that his eyes are swimming in booze and he's in no shape to do anything.

"So!" he says loud enough for the whole building to hear. "This is what D-7 brings me this year! Avox!" he bellows.

A silent servant comes up to him.

"Bring me two glasses, this is going to be a long day."

Longer for me than you old man. I think to myself

"So...!" he says again. "Did District 7 send me a winner this year."

I stare at him with an eyebrow raised and the guy bursts out laughing in his chair. He laughs so hard he nearly drops his bottle, but he clutches it like it will save his life. I really don't know what to do with this guy, he's clearly hammered and unable to even think straight.

The Avox brings the glasses and the guy proceeds to pour the contents of his bottle into the glasses, most of the contents. Once he's done pouring and spilling, he pushes a glass over to me and takes a swig from the bottle instead of the glass.

"Drink up buddy!" he says. "If you win, liquor is your only friend."

"No thank you." I say as politely as possible.

"Come on! At least take a sip. You're not going to grow old enough to drink this stuff legally anyways."

"I'd rather not."

"DRINK!" he says with more force. "You're Mom's not here and I'm not judging you."

I look down at the glass of golden liquid and I feel my stomach flip slightly. I've never really went near alcohol, mostly because it smells awful. I decide he won't shut up unless I take a sip. Once it hits my tongue, I can feel my gag reflex activating. It tastes bitter and it stings my mouth a bit. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see this guy eyeing me so I take a small amount and swallow. It was the worst thing I've ever tasted and I'm in no hurry to taste it again. I can feel my eyes tear up and I feel slightly embarrassed that I choked on liquor or whatever it was. I put the glass back on the table and try to smile slightly.

"You don't have to fake it buddy." our mentor says. "It's awful, but it gets better once you drink it frequently."

"I don't plan to drink it frequently." I mutter, still trying to get the after taste from my mouth. "I'm going into the Hunger Games remember."

"Ah...the death games yeah good luck with that."

"Thanks" I roll my eyes. this guy's no help at all. What would I expect anyways? "How did you win anyways?" I blurt out.

"Long story that I will not bore you with the details, but bottom line, made an alliance, had to back stab, volcanic explosion, my tree was the last one standing."

I bite my lip and remain silence. I'm really glad he didn't go into details. After the nightmares I've been having about people burning alive, I'm a little uncomfortable over it anyways.

"So..." the guy says. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"W-W-What" I stammer suddenly.

"Come on, I know the dumb love struck look better than anyone. Who's the girl?"

This guy may be more than meets the eye. He takes another swig and eyes me suspiciously. He raises and eyebrow and I can feel myself starting to sweat and bit.

"H-her name is Glimmer..." I say.

"You guys make out."

I turn red and refuse to answer, but I guess the silence is enough for him to know to move on from it.

"She's a lucky girl and by lucky i mean that she will stab you in the back during the games..."

"How did you...?"

"Happened to me once. When I came here I met a really sweet girl during training. District Four I think it was and we instantly bonded." I can see at least a little emotion in his eyes as he tells me this story. I guess he does have a soul. He takes another swig I guess to numb the pain that comes up from this memory.

"We formed an alliance and we made our way through the games together. Came down to four of us and she..." He stops to fight off the tears.

"She stabbed you?" I prompt and immediately feel guilty for doing so. this is hard for the guy. Maybe the alcohol is getting to me?

"Literally did. I realized she's just stuck with me and turned against me. had no remorse for doing it either. She called me a liability and that's when that volcano errupted. Even though I was wounded, I could climb like a bear. I was strong at it. She tried to climb with me as the lava came down at break neck speed. She then immediately expected me to just help her, but I..."

This time I don't say anything. I know he watched her die that day. Probably out of anger and betrayal did he not help her. He liked her, if not loved her but the back stabbing was too much for him.

The man is sobbing over his bottle now, unable to continue any longer. I'm so saddened and depressed by this story. Is this what Glimmer has planned? Use me as Survival Man to live long enough until it's time to kill me too? Is she using my feelings to her advantage? Would she willing know that I would rather die for her than anyone else? Was she just playing me and does she even like me?

I start to sob a bit too and I reach for the liquor and down the rest of the glass, not caring what it might do to my stomach or sanity.

When he settles a bit, he takes another swig.

"Life is cruel kid. Reality even more so." he mutters. He sees that I'm crying too and he passes the bottle to me, but I can't down anymore, I feel sick about Glimmer and I feel empty.

"These Games should not exist. Them victors suffer a life time of hell and agony. PTSD if you will. Alcohol is my only friend now and if you win kid... It'll be yours too. Either you have to watch that pretty little gal go down or you do yourself in for her. The heart is just as cruel..."

We sit in silence for a long time, letting the cloud of emotion hang over us. I shift uncomfortably a few times until the point that I know I'm going to fall out of my chair. My stomach is also upset, knowing that I'm going to vomit out what I consumed. I tried to fill the void like he's done...

"Heartless President he is." the guy says suddenly. "Heard he's in cahoots with some bigger power. Rigged the games this year."

I suddenly turn to him. This has peaked my interest.

"W-what do you mean?" I whisper, still trying to collect myself fully.

"This higher power or whatever has enemies in the districts. Strong people out there who have a lot of power of their own. Some say that they want to rebel against the Capitol and take down this higher power too. Start a nuclear war if they have to, but apparently the power rigged these games so the kids of those rebels are put in the games to break them, tell them that they have little control after all. Some are even saying they got weapons from alien worlds out there to help them"

I can't believe my ears. this guy is talking about us and the Mogadorians. The parents thing is ridiculous but the fact that the games are rigged and that we do have a lot of power is all true. How the hell does he know all this?! Is this some kind of drunken banter or is he speaking about us?

I look him in the eye and glare at him. "Is this true?"

He leans in and whispers a bit more "Can't say that it is, can't say that it isn't kid. I've got my sources on the inside. thing is, the Capitol can't prove it anyway. They also have squat to threaten me with anyways. But you ill have you heart broken buddy... It's why I stay near the liquor." He goes on about random stuff now, babbling like a drunk man would. "Oppression is the name of this city's game and no one cares at all. We're all prisoners...pawns if you will, in this wealthy pompous game!" He starts to get louder and more scattered. "Never will I ever see a day when all the kids can act normally. Would it be so wrong to be free?! Them rebels got it right all along, freedom from oppression. Wondering the kind of dirt they have on Snow and on this 'higher being.' Wonder if they have some invisible jet in the sky to watch our every move? The rebels have that power and I don't know if they'll use it. Well I'll be dead before I see this world free!"

Once he's done. He stops and puts his feet up, finishing off the bottle.

Something becomes clear to me about what he said. The alcohol must be a facade. He really can think for himself and the alcohol covers up his rebellious ideas. If he's on anyone's side, he must be on ours! I need a way to let him know that I'm on his side and that powerful ally he wants.

I make the lights flicker, while staring at this guy. I bring my hand to the edge of the table and do a snap, the lights go out. I do it again and they come back on. He doesn't look spooked, intrigued maybe. We never look away from each other. The guy places the bottle on the table and I slowly use my telekinesis to make the bottle go back and forth across the table. I let it hover for a moment in front of him and then I smash it against the wall.

I want to do more, but them Marina comes back with the female mentor.

"What the hell Drew?!" she yells. "You break that? Crazy b-"

"Yes I did Sweetie, Mazel tov! Jewish weddings used to do it all the time! Gotta Problem?"

"Crazy prat!" she hisses. "Come on you!" she indicates to me. "I hope Drew didn't make you so drunk that you'll throw up on stage."

I go over to join Marina as our mentor lets our stylists in. We're hurried away for prep for our interviews, but at the last second I see Drew wink at me and toss the glass against the wall.


	19. Chapter 18: Et Tu to Caesar

John's (Number Four) POV

I'm fitted up in a nice blue suit, one that matches my eyes really well, as Sarah would say. I stand in front of a mirror, adjusting my sleeves. despite the weird costume that my stylist wanted me to wear for the parade, she actually did a good job with my suit. I'm fixing the tie when I see someone peer around one of the back curtains of the dressing rooms. It's Christina, dressed in a light purple dress that reaches down to her knees, embroidered with black threaded designs and she's been fitted with black flats to complete the look.

"Hey." she says.

"Hey." I respond, trying to fix my tie so it's not strangling.

"Let me help you with that." she says, coming to me and fixes the tie properly. I look up at her and I can see the strain underneath the make up. Her eyes look tired and very worried.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I got inside Ella's head." She whispers.

"What? How?!" I say loudly and realize that I should be quieter.

"Telepathy." she says. She scans around to make sure that no one else is around out. "Once I got in there...it was hell! Ella's trapped in this vision of what could be the future."

"What did you see?"

"Hell, literally! The Capitol, although a much needed improvement on the city...was burning... People burning and the Mogs... oh gawd the Mogs. they had invaded and Ra.." she swallowed hard. "And Ella...Ella is..is..."

"Will all tributes please proceed to the side of the stage. Filming will begin in 5 minutes." a voice of the speaker system interrupts us.

"Tell me as we go." I assure her.

We exit from my dressing room and start down the hall to where we're supposed to line up before we go onstage.

"Ra was the ruler and Ella was... his heir I think it was."

"WHAT?!" I hiss loudly.

"I know I couldn't believe it either, I didn't want to believe it, but she was next to him and she..." she choked up and tried to fight tears.

"What? WHAT?!" I ask anxiously.

"Nine and Six were in there too, as prisoners and... she ordered their execution."

My jaw drops in shock as we round the corner to where all the other tributes are lining up, girls first and then guys. Christina looks down to where she has to be and rubs the back of her neck.

"I have to go..." she says.

"We'll talk more later." I whisper in her ear and we separate. I walk in behind my district partner, who is dressed in a turquoise dress with white lace covering the top layer.

I re-adjust my tie and watch the monitor that has the stage on screen. All the other tributes wait anxiously for their time on stage.

The announcer's voice comes onto the overhead speaker.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Your master of ceremonies... Caesar Flickerman."

There is huge applause as we're shooting this in front of a live audience and a man walks on stage. Caesar looks like anyone else in the Capitol would, under heavy make-up, hair that is sliding back to show his age and is heavily gelled and dyed whatever colour he fancies. I learned that he changes his look every Hunger Games. This year his lips, hair and eyelids are dyed blue. He wears a dark blue suit with mini light bulbs to keep the audience interested. He gives the audience a toothy grin, with bleached white teeth that could blind anyone.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." he says warming the crowd up.

Once the applause dies down.

"Thank you... Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome to the 74th Annual Hunger Games. Now, in five minutes all those tributes you've heard about will be on this stage. Are you excited?"

The crowd cheers.

"Let me hear you!" Caesar bellows, laughing as he goes.

Once the cheering dies down, Caesar continues.

"Now, let's see if she does indeed shine. Let's give a warm round of applause for Glimmer."

Three's crush walks out on stage, beaming and dressed in a very see-through golden dress. It was obvious her stylist wanted her to look sexy. I think most of the male tributes can't help but stare, but I do my best to avoid her.

"Hello sweetheart, Glimmer are you prepared?"

"Yes Caesar, I am very prepared." she says.

She's really milking her interview, I know that she's acting like she was born to be in front of the camera. She is really pretty and I can see why Three likes her a lot, but right now, to me she's just another Career. Strong, spoiled and there is no way in hell they would listen to reason when it came to us ending the Games and bringing the fight to the Capitol. These guys love the games and probably the Capitol too. I know that if ever have the chance to sabotage the Games, the lower districts are the better choice for an alliance.

All tributes get three minutes with Caesar and Glimmer is working all the angles, posing and smiling like a model.

"So Glimmer, do you happen to have a someone special in your life right now?"

I turn and peer down at Three, who's watching with fixed eyes. The dude looks like he's going to be sick as all of us wait for an answer.

"Yes Caesar! There is." Glimmer says, without hesitation.

"Who is the lucky guy?" Caesar continues.

Glimmer swallows before answering. "You wouldn't know him and he is very shy, but he's the sweetest guy and he treats me with respect, more than anyone else would. I'm the lucky one to have met him."

"So are you planning to win the Games for him?"

I see the flutter of panic in her eyes and she shifts uncomfortably before answering.

"Yes." She says, trying not to miss a beat. "I'm going to win these Games for him... for us, which is why I'm more prepared than anyone else to win."

The buzzer goes soon after and the audience applauds the shining star. Caesar holds her hand in the air and Glimmer shows off the waving and giggling for the crowd. My eyes go back to Three, he seems a little confused, but at the same time happy. Their relationship for now should be a secret, but I'm wondering how long it will last.

The next guy is Marvel, he also milks it for the cameras, bringing the "party boy" image and working the crowd. He reminds me a lot of Mark, cocky, obnoxious and full of himself. He's the big man on campus. I'm just glad that Mark doesn't act that way all the time anymore. Marvel also announces that he's single and tries to get the girls to go wild.

Caesar welcomes the girl Clove, dressed in a fancy orange dress to the stage, Five's crush. To be honest, I can't see what Five sees in her. She's no doubt viscous minded and wouldn't hesitate to knife any one of us to get her way. She is fairly pretty, but she seems too tough for her own good. Fortunately for her, Caesar doesn't ask her if she's seeing anyone.

The interviews move on to Cato, the other meat head who Five confronted in the cafeteria . Dude is too cocky for his own good as well. He even describes himself as viscous in front of everyone. He is another opponent who will never listen to reason and one who will not hesitate to kill.

The girl before Adam, Amber is a petite girl and really shy. She chats with Caesar about her skills and what she plans to do in the arena.

When it's time for Adam's interview, in a dark black suit and tie to match his hair and eyes, he plays it more shy and reserved. I don't know if that will work in his favor, but the crowd seems to give him a respectable applause. Adam says that he's smart and is a fairly capable fighter.

While my female counterpart is being interviewed, I feel myself starting to get nervous. My palms begin to heat up a bit and I re-adjust my tie. I've never liked speaking in public to begin with, but this is just throwing a spotlight on me.

Christina comes to my rescue.

Just imagine your talking to Sam or Sarah, be honest and be yourself.

I turn back and grin at her when the buzzer goes. A guy with a headset comes over and directs me to my mark. Even over the screaming, he does his best to tell me what to do.

"On three I want you to walk up and shake Caesar hand."

I nod to show him I'm listening. He pats me on the shoulder and counts down on his fingers. When he hits three, I take a deep breath and walk towards where Caesar is. The cheering of the crowds is overwhelming and I really just want to get this over with.

"Welcome John" Caesar says, shaking my hand. I return his shake and sit down in the chair opposite to him.

"So John," he says. "How are you enjoying the Capitol so far?"

I swallow before I answer. "It's nice overall, but nothing beats the ocean."

"Well, we do have the mountains here." Caesar says, playing off my comment.

"Can you swim in them?" I ask. There are some chuckles from the audience and I can feel myself being slightly. This is really cheesy, but it just might work.

"Not unless you have a parka..." he says, laughing with the audience.

I give a small smile and allow Caesar to ask the next question.

"Can I just ask...John...what an unusual name for such a young fella..."

"I was named after my grandfather." I answer quickly. "But names like Hershey or Abba aren't unusual? Sounds like a brand of Candy and Swedish band or data analyzer"

The audience laughs again. I guess I can warm up to a crowd a bit. I feel like I'm talking to Sam, clowning around with him when I can.

"That is true. Sounds like your parents were fairly traditional in a sense."

"Definitely."

"Moving on to your training...what an impressive score. I'm sure the audience would like to hear the secret to a higher score."

I pause and think about the question. I know I can't give the audience a heart attack right now, that's for Game time.

"To be honest..." I say. "I just was myself. I showcased my combative skills and played the session to my strengths. I tried my hardest and threw a few surprises in there, but I did what I had to do. When I be myself, I feel like I've earned what I receive and that's the honest truth."

Caesar nodded and the audience was fairly impressed and applauded me.

"One last question." Caesar said. "I'm sure a handsome fella like you should have someone special in their life to honour in the games. Do you?"

I take in a deep breath.

"Yes..." I say. "I have the most loving and passionate girlfriend. She's the most beautiful girl in all the Districts and she always wants to make you feel happy with her. Her heart is so open and when she smiles, I know she truly means it. When she came to visit me, I told her that I loved her and that I would try to win for her." I turn to the camera. "Sarah, I love you and I miss you. I'll love you forever and always."

The audience awes and even Caesar is trying to keep his composure at bit.

"Very moving my son. And I wish you all the best of luck" he says, holding out his hand.

"Thank you." I say as I shake his hand and we stand up to take a bow. The audience breaks out into loud applause.

Once backstage, I feel relief and that it's over, but at the same time, I wish I could've said more to Sarah, hoping that she's watching. I know I'm going to call her when I get back to my room.

Five's POV

John just finished and soon it will be my turn to take the stage. I think I'm just going to play it cool, more silent, but with an edge. I know they're going to ask about my eye patch and I know what story to use.

I saw Clove go on and I thought she was beautiful . She cleans up pretty nicely, but I'm not into the looks as much. She's beautiful, no matter what she wears.

You okay? I hear in my head

I turn to get a glance at my sister. She too, cleans up nicely and looks really pretty. I decide to think it to her.

Yeah, I'm fine. You look really nice.

She smiles and gives a little twirl, giggling as she does so. I can't help but give a small grin to her. She is my sister and I do care about her. It just takes me a little longer to get used to the idea.

Why thank you dear brother and don't you look handsome. Your patch matches your suit.

It's true. The stylist put me in a silver clad suit and vest and even had a patch made to match It's not too showy, so I don't look like a disco ball, but just dark enough to keep the sophistication of the look. I look alright overall, but the tie is starting to choke me a bit.

Suddenly a producer comes up and grabs my arm. I let him guide me to my mark. He runs through what I'm supposed to do, but I'm hardly listening. I'm just going to wing it.

"In 3...2...1"

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like you all to welcome, Bolt Anteriot to the stage." the blue haired announcer says.

I take that as my cue and go on stage waving to the crowd. A roar erupts and I shake hands with the guy before I sit down.

"Welcome Bolt and how are you today?" he asks.

"I'm pretty good." I say. "Actually I'm great buddy. I'm on top of my game right now."

"Really? And is that because of the score you received."

"Yes, I'm got the skill to kill if you know what I mean."

There is another loud applause. I feel totally at home and I came up with that saying on the spot. I feel like I should be milking the crowd a bit more.

"Very impressive, we don't always see those from District 5 as enthusiastic am I right?" the guy asks the crowd.

The crowd cheers.

"So Bolt, what is your best skill."

I really want to answer about my Externa and flight, my best legacies, but I have to wait until the arena for that.

"Knives mostly. I got pretty good at them. I could probably give the D 2 girl a run for her money."

The audience laughs and I assume that they think I'm joking. They'll see soon enough. I think to myself

"Now, I'm sure all of us in the audience and you can answer if you feel comfortable enough to, what happened to our eye."

I give a sort of smirk and clear my throat.

"It's sort of a sad, but interesting story. Back in the district, a bunch of my friends and I were hanging about and we decided to see if we could get something to eat. And us being idiots thought we could get away with "borrowing" a few products because we were starving. Needless to say we were caught and we ran like scared little kids. The Peacekeepers gave wicked chase and one of them shot at us. One guy had really bad aim and ended up nailing me in the eye."

The crowd gasps with horror and whispers of this event. Even the blue guy seems pretty disturbed about how casual I am about this. I'm glad I have this story to hide behind. The real facts were that I got hit in the eye by an angry girl. Despite how immature it sounds, it is pretty embarrassing.

"I was lucky to have survived, I spent three months in the hospital recovering."

"I...must say we're... all very sorry about what happened." The guy stammers.

"It's in the past." I shrug. I lean back in the chair, fairly pleased with myself. "Anyone want to see the scar?"

"No... no thank you."

I roll my eyes and frown. These people watch kids rip each other apart for leisure T.V. time, but don't want to see my empty eye socket.

The buzzer goes signalling my time is up. I stand and shake the blue guy's hand before taking a bow. There is applause, but it's not as loud as it used to be.

I walk offstage and wait in the front lobby, watching the rest of the interviews. Eventually, I catch a glimpse of Clove, in her dress and heels. She ditches the heels and comes over to me.

"Hi." I say, my face flushing a bit.

"Hi." she says. "Good interview, you scared a lot of them witless. Too bad you didn't get to show your scar."

I shrug. "It is pretty ugly, but not as ugly as the guy's nose job."

"Oh yeah, you can tell it's been deviated more than once." she says.

"And the teeth, how white can they be. I thought I would go blind onstage."

"He probably gargles with bleach."

"Rinse and repeat" I mutter and we both laugh.

She punches me in the shoulder. "Have you given any thought to our alliance?"

Three's POV

I'm sick. Sick to the stomach. That whiskey is not sitting well with me at all. I felt several times like I was going to vomit. I'm nervous about Glimmer, I'm nervous about the interview and of course, I'm nervous about the Games.

My suit and tie are a dark burgundy and my hair is slicked back. My stylist did an okay job with me, but Marina is beautiful. Her dress is a light blue, with spaghetti straps and lace under the main skirt. Her heels match perfectly and make her look a bit taller. Her eyes have blue eye shadow and her lips were a blue, but a more neutral colour. The stylist even added glitter to her hair. She truly does look like Marina of the sea.

She gives me a re-assuring smile. I rub my hands together and take a few deep breaths, but my stomach won't settle down.

We watch Six give an awesome interview. She also looks very beautiful. She's dressed in a slick silver dress, that has a cut up one side of the to expose her legs. Her heels are a slick black and her raven hair is up in a high ponytail. Six probably has all the boys in the audience drooling over her. She just gives off that energy of confidence and pride. Something that makes her a formidable opponent.

"Ashton Oakly" some guy in a headset yells down at me.

Marina re-adjusts my tie and smiles. She gives me a small kiss on the cheek for luck.

"Just be yourself." she smiles.

"Ashton Oakly!" the voice rings out again. I swallow hard and hurry up the long hallway. My stomach is tying in knots and the alcohol is swirling around in my head. Drew made me drunk and now my interview is going to pay for it.

"On Three" the guy yells over the cheering crowd.

He shows me on his fingers and when he gets to one, he points. I slowly start walking onstage into the bright lights and the applause. I walk up to Caesar Flickerman and shake his hand. The noise is really overwhelming and I can hardly hear anything. Once I sit down and take a deep breath, my stomach settles a little bit.

"So Aston," Caesar says when the crowd dies down. "You enjoying the Capitol so far?"

I open my mouth.

"Yes, so far. Definitely a change of pace. I'm used to camping out in the woods after work at the saw mills."

"Oh my" Caesar says. 'I'm sure our audience would like to hear about these experiences. Am I right?"

The crowd applauds.

I take another deep breath.

"It can be dangerous out there and very unpredictable. You have to be very aware in case you run into any animals. I'm very skilled with spears and hunting gear, so I know how to trap and kill food easily, which hopefully will give an edge this year. I can actually live solely on a backpack full of water and gear for approximately two weeks without having to come into contact with anyone"

"Impressive." Caesar nods. "But tell me doesn't it get lonely out there?"

"It can be." I say honestly. "I learned a lot from my...dad. After he finished work, he'd teach everything I needed to know and we would camp out in the woods. When he passed on, I continued the tradition in the wooded areas. But when I do get lonely or in trouble, I picture my dad and remember what he said, then I don't feel so alone anymore."

The audience awes in sympathy and I can even see Caesar tearing up.

"That's wonderful, but despite your lone camping trips, do you have anyone special in your life."

I can feel my face flush and I swallow hard. I loosen the tie around my neck and look out into the audience. I think of Glimmer and how unpredictable our relationship is. Does she even like me? Will what happened with Drew happen to me?

"I...I...I do have someone. She is special to me and I think she is the most beautiful person in the world. No one can compare to her in anyway, but I am a little worried that it might not work out. I've only just met her and I'm not sure where she stands with me."

The audience awes again.

Caesar apparently doesn't miss a beat. "Well I'll tell you what Ashton. You go out and win these Games and when you get back, I'm sure she'll feel a lot different, am I right?"

The audience cheers and the buzzer goes indicating the end of my interview. I shake Caesar's and and force a smile on my face for the cameras.

Once I'm back stage. I tear off my tie and head for the elevators. I'm about to go when a hand reaches out and grabs me. I'm pulled into a corner and I'm so confused, I can't even get the chance to yell.

My lips are suddenly occupied with Glimmer kissing me. I want to resist, but I just can't. She is my angel.

When we do break apart she whispers.

"Now are you sure about me?"

"Yes."

Marina's (Number Seven) POV

I watched Three go out there. He was great and he really pleased the crowd. It's my turn and I can;'t help but feel nervous. Sure I look great, but I hate being in front of crowds. It's just embarrassing for me. I remember one time at the convent I had to read a psalm in front of the entire congregation. I screwed up half the Italian words and ended up looking like a fool. Sister Dora yelled at me afterwards, saying I failed at being God's servant and the other girls teased me. I couldn't even go to Adelina for help because by then, she kind of stopped caring about what happened to me. If Adelina had just smiled from the crowd or given me some sign that I was doing okay, I would've relaxed and probably done a lot better. But I didn't have that luxury, I still don't. I turn to Eight, he's dressed in a slick green suit with matching tie. I give him a small smile and he leans over to kiss me. He settles for my cheek and I blush under the make-up.

"Marina Adeline" the producer at the end of the hall yells.

"You'll do great." Eight whispers in my ear. "I'll be watching you the whole time."

"Okay..." I sigh.

I start walking towards the entrance to the stage, when I hear a voice in my head.

If you want...I can make sure you're doing okay. Christina offers. She knows that Eight should be in her place for comfort, but he doesn't have telepathy,

Thanks I think back to her.

Don't forget to smile

I pull my cheeks up in an almost winning smile, picturing Eight the entire time. The producer points, signaling me to get ready. When the crowd cheers, I walk onto the stage. The lights blind my eyes and I can feel everything going in slow motion. My stomach flips and I start to tense up. The host, Caesar grabs my hand and kisses it. I can feel myself starting to sweat. Only one voice can help me now.

You're doing great, just be yourself. I hear.

"So Marina and what a lovely name that is too." Caesar says.

"T-Thank you." I say.

"Tell me what origin is your name from exactly?"

"Spanish." I answer quickly. "More specifically Latin."

"And what does it stand for?"

"Marina, as of the sea." I say, quoting Hector, my good and for awhile only friend back in Spain. The town drunk turned hero when the Mogs attacked the small town. He gave his life to help protect Six, Ella, Crayton and I. I don't care what anyone ever said about him, he died a hero.

"Such a lovely name and I can see that your stylist decided to go with that theme."

I look down and smile at my dress. My stylist did a good job, designing my dress. I truly do look like a marina of the sea.

Give them a twirl Christina says to me.

I stand up and give them a twirl of my dress.

"Isn't it beautiful?" I ask Caesar.

"Your truly do look like a goddess of the sea." Caesar says. "Am I right folks?"

The crowd applauds and I stop spinning before I fall over. I give off another big smile, this time it's not as forced.

"Now, a lovely girl like you might be a little afraid about the Games. Are you prepared?"

I swallow and take a deep breath.

"I think so."

"You think so?"

I bit my lip.

"What are your skills Marina?"

Oh how your would like to know. I think to myself. I can heal the sick and wounded on a whim. I can move things with my mind and run at incredible speeds. I can create ice and manipulate it to my desire. I can see in the dark and breath under water. Superhuman abilities that would help make me...us, all of us Loric invincible in these Games and be able to take out our opponents easily. But our secret only had to be kept a little while longer.

"I'm a good tracker." I lie about that part. "I can throw knives pretty well. I'm a fast runner (a huge understatement). I'm also a skilled at hand-to-hand combat."

"Well, those sound very fine skills to me" Caesar says, trying to make me more confident. "And how are you when it comes to surviving?"

"I learned a lot in training and my score reflects it pretty well." I say proudly.

"Now how about at home? What's your life like there?"

"I...I only have a mother at home, no siblings. My father died when I was little. My mom and I work together as a team and care for each other."

"Did she come to say good-bye?" Caesar asks gently.

"Yes. I told her I loved her and I told her not worry about me..." I say. This is what I really wanted to say to Adelina before she sacrificed herself. It's what I wanted her to hear. That she was loved and I'd never forget her.

"One last question. Do you have someone special that you're trying to win for. Besides your mother?"

"Yes..." I say. I start to smile, just thinking about him. "He's the sweetest boy I've ever met. He's kind of a joker, he loves to make people laugh. He's kind and considerate and loves me to the core. I love him too and I know that even though we might be separated, we'll always find each other." I turn directly into the camera.

"I love you."

The audience stands up and applauds me. Caesar takes my hand a kisses it. I thank him and give another big smile as the buzzer goes. I go back stage and sigh in relief. I did it. I didn't look like an idiot and I actually even had fun out there. The most important thing was that I professed my love for Eight, made it official for all the world to see. It was slightly impulsive, but in a way it cemented our relationship, made it official for the other Loric and allies to know that we were in love.

I know this gesture could have consequences for us in terms of Setrakus Ra, but we're all a team and we all care for each other enough to protect the ones we love from harm. At least my love will be here next to me in the games, while John, Six, Adam and Christina's are out in the unpredictable districts, vulnerable. Now it feels like I'm doubting my confidence in One and Two, which I'm not. I can't predict the future, but I know that I'm glad that Eight's by my side.

Christina's (Number Ten) POV

I'll be the last of the Loric up there. I watched Eight and Nine go up, joking around with Caesar and hamming it up for the cameras. Nine especially, trying to make the ladies scream. I swear at one point he was going to rip his shirt off to make a huge scene. I did warn him with telepathy about too much of a good thing.

It is my turn. I smooth the folds of my skirt and re-adjusted my hair. I check my make-up before walking towards the producer. He gives me a small smile for the fact that I was ready to go and he didn't have to call me over. I already know my cues before he can even tell me. I prep and give a glance at Antonio, who gives me a small thumbs up.

"Now...Ladies and Gentlemen please put your hands together for the lovely Christina Walton."

I walk onto stage, smiling and waving in a more mature way than some of the other girls like Glimmer, who went all out in her entrance. Caesar takes my hand and gives it a kiss. I wave once more before sitting down.

I start to read Caesar's mind as we sit. He's a married man, in his early 50's, although the plastic surgery is supposed to make it seem he's younger. His bleached teeth give me another grin and I return the smile. He has a grown son, Julius who is married and raising his two grandchildren, Alvia and Joel, and a loving wife, Arendella. Even though he seems to have a fairly comfortable life, he knows of the dangers that lurk in the corners of the Capitol. I'm sure he's heard some things from President Snow or Seneca Crane, the head Gamemaker. He is also constantly under pressure to make sure he says what he's supposed to and make sure he doesn't start a riot. He seems like another Capitol puppet, but a knowledgeable one. He hides the strain fairly well and tries to keep his emotions in check. I can't tell if he's as shallow as other Capitol residents, enjoying the games, but I know he has some care and concern for the tributes he talks to every year. He can see the fear in their eyes and the sadness that plagues many of them going on to certain death. He knows he will only meet one of those tributes again for aftermath interviews. I can even guess that he's gone numb to protect himself and the others for what happens next.

"So Christina, I must say that s a lovely dress you have on."

"Thank you." I say politely. "I care a great deal about fashion and have a certain talent for designing things."

"Really?" he says, sounding like he doesn't quite believe me.

"Yes, even though I'm not from the textiles district, I know my way around a sewing machine. My parents owned a textiles shop in the town and I designed a lot of the clothing." Apart of me really wants to bring up the tribute parade costumes, but I stay quiet, not wanting to cause a huge stir that I had some influence and control over what I looked like for their petty plans for the twenty-four of us.

"Very impressive, now tell me, besides sewing, what are your other skills? Ones that will help you in these games?"

I swallow and decide to make up a few skills, as well as ones I know I can do fairly well.

"I have amazing agility. I can climb fairly easily, which hopefully will come in handy. I'm also a lot stronger than I seem and my knowledge of the outdoors and tracking is fairly strong."

"That sounds very good. Now tell me, I'm sure you all saw and I think we were moved that you volunteered for that young girl back at the Reapings. How did you feel in that moment?"

"That little girl was my sister, Ellie. I raise her with my boyfriend, Blaze. My parents passed away when she was really young and we've been a strong team ever since. And I guess what I felt in that moment, was to protect her, a promise I gave to my parents a long time ago, that I'd do everything I could to protect her. To give her a chance to do something greater. I'm not saying what I'm doing in great, but I'm sure she will grow up, even if I'm not there to help her, and do amazing things."

The audience is very quiet after my speech and I turn to look at Caesar, he himself is a little taken back.

"That is so very sweet and tell me, did she come to say good-bye?"

"Yes I told her I loved her and that no matter where I was, I'd always love her."

I know I'm speaking of behalf of all the Garde, the ones who vowed to protect each other, especially Ella. Ella is like our little sister and I guess we haven't been doing the best at protecting her now that she's in a coma, tormented by a possible future where we're all dead and she's Ra's heir. It's scary and I feel helpless inside. I do my best to hide my worry behind a soft smile.

"And this gentleman...Blaze did you say? What is he like?"

I take in a deep breath. "He's like no other. Through thick and thin he's stood by me, loved me and he cares just as much for my sister. We're a family and I'm the luckiest girl to have him. He's my reason for trying to win and I will always love him."

I can see a few people in the audience tear up with my speech and I grab Caesar's hand, a small gesture of re-assurance to him, something I'm sure very few tributes do.

"Thank you young Christina, I wish you a lot of luck and I hope your love will pull through. Ladies and Gentlemen, Christina Walton."

The audience stands up in applause. Caesar raises my hand to the others. I decide to do something crazy. He kisses my hand and I speak to him telepathically.

What you're doing is great...overall. I know you have to hide, but I know that you really do care about us. Thank you for that...

Then I walk offstage, leaving him to ponder what just happened between us. We made a connection and I was happy.

I go back up to my room and sit on my bed, looking at the stars. I eventually turn on the replays of the interviews. We all did very well overall, but I think Peeta and Katniss gave the best performance. Katniss also volunteered for her sister and promised that she would try and win for her. She had a very beautiful dress, designed by Cinna, that made her look like a girl on fire. But Peeta wiped out everyone else by expressing his secret love for Katniss. I know that this is genuine and it's not just a ploy to get sponsors . Like all of us tributes before him, he had a crush and wasn't afraid to share it with the others. The thing was, he was very specific and gave it a tragic element to it. I just know that if we Loric want to help the others, we're going to have to mess the Games up from the inside. Create chaos, but also re-unite families with the ones they love, including us. We're all worried about Ella and the others, But I know that we do have the upper hand in these games.

We just need to play our cards right.


	20. Chapter 19: Assessing Assassin

Antonio's POV

I'm tossing and turning in bed. I can't get comfortable and I'm scared about tomorrow. More importantly I'm scared about what I have to do to stay alive. The black eyed general made it clear that I could live if I did a few things for him and that includes killing my district partner and people who have been nice to me.

The problem is why them specifically? We're all supposed to kill each other, but the odds of me killing all of them is highly unlikely, only one can win the Games. What makes them so special from the others? How do they know each other anyways. I can definitely suspect that many of the people on the list I was given know each other, but how?

I roll over again and look out the window. The sights and sounds of the city below are what I want to embrace. I may never see them again...unless I do what this General wants.

What is he the General of anyways? We're not at war. How will he even be capable of rescuing me from the games in that hovercraft that picks up the bodies? What kind of power does he have? What does he have against those people? What threat to they pose?

I can't seem to keep anything straight. I get up out of bed and begin pacing the floor. If I can escape, I could go home. See my sister again. But what's stopping the Capitol from coming after me, hunting me down and killing me and my family?! What if they toss be back into the game to get rid of me? What if this General is just lying to me and he won't save me?

I go to the bathroom and get a cup of water. I down the whole thing quickly and re-fill. When I'm very nervous and confused, I tend to drink a lot.

I look at myself in the mirror. My shaggy hair hangs down over my eyes. Mom was always telling me that I should let her cut it, but I refused. The adolescence in me wanting to rebel. Something my sister loved to pull at when she was young. I did not allow the prep team to cut it because it as the last piece I brought from home. Made me feel like...me

Me...

Why me? Of all people why did this creep pick me? I'm not strong, I'm not skilled, my knee is crap. My score reflects it pretty clearly...so why did he pick me. He could've bribed any other district tributes to do it, ones that were more than capable.

I start to think hard about why I was chosen? Did this general see something in me that I can't see myself? Was he desperate...?

Desperate...

I ponder on that last word. I chew on it and then swallow. I take another sip of water and bite my lip.

I start to piece together the answer. The other, stronger tributes wouldn't want to be taken out of the Games because they prepare for it their whole lives. If they were offered the chance, I'm sure ninety percent would turn it down. Tributes from the lower districts, like mine hate this situation and don't want to be put in the arena. We are desperate to save ourselves from all kinds of danger because we're not as skilled. We'll do literally anything to escape.

But me...? Did this general know about my conversations with Christina and the fact I'm watching some unknown events unfold around me. I'm aware of some big secret that none of my other fellow tributes know about. How does he know about this? Is he watching me?

I climb back into bed, the picture slightly more clear. I leave a full glass of water on the side nightstand. I lie down and pull the list from under my pillow. I read the names over until I've memorized them completely.

I crumple the paper up and throw it in the trash bin. I take another few sips and try to go back to sleep.

When I wake up in the morning, my glass is empty.


	21. Chapter 20: Last Night

John's (Number Four) POV

I can't sleep. I'm still waiting for Christina to give us the signal for one last meeting on the roof before the games begin. I know there's no getting out and if we attack now, innocent people will die, more than the twenty four that are going into the arena.

I had called Sarah when I got back to my room. She was overjoyed to hear my voice as I was to hear hers. She said that they, except Ella, had all watched the interviews. She said she teared up when I proclaimed my love to her and that she also said I looked very handsome in my suit. I asked her how Ella was and she said the same as before. They had managed to get some fluid into her, One had snuck to a hospital in the district and stolen an IV, which they had inserted into Ella to keep her hydrated. They say that they're scared and that they sleep in shifts in case her condition changed. I wanted desperately to be there, to hold Sarah again and be near Ella. Try and comfort Ella and come back with some kind of solution to her predicament.

At least I know that Christina has made some kind of contact with Ella, telepathically. She needs to share what she saw. For all we know, the vision that Ella is stuck in could be the future and we are all going to die...maybe in the Games...?

"John!" I hear.

"Six where are you?" I whisper.

"In front of you. Take my hand, we need to go to the roof."

I reach out, feeling like a blind man trying to find Six's hand. Once I feel her skin clasp onto mine I know I've become transparent too. I can't help but blush slightly when I feel Six's warm grip, I guess my feelings for her haven't fully subsided. We slip out to the elevator and take it up to floor twelve. We slip along the hall, past the District Twelve's door. As we go, I hear voices. We start to go to the roof when I realize that it's already unlocked and there are faint voices heard. I first think it's Christina and the others, but these are voices I don't recognize. I stop short and suck in a breath. Six grips my hand tightly. We can both see the tributes of District 12 sitting and talking in our usual meeting spot.

"Crap!" She hisses. "Why aren't they in bed like normal human beings?"

"What about us?" I smirk.

"We're not human beings!" Six snaps

I know we're stuck until the two leave, but it could be hours before that happens. I'm sure all the tributes have some form of insomnia, about to go to their imminent death, but I can't help but wonder what they're talking about. We slip through the ajar door and stand behind it.

The streets are loud and the wind is extremely high, but despite it all, I can hear the tributes' conversation.

"Are they in costumes?" Katniss asks

"Who could tell?" Peeta answers. "With all the crazy clothes they wear here. Couldn't sleep, either?"

"Couldn't turn my mind off," Katniss says.

"Thinking about your family?" he asks."No," I admit a bit guiltily.

"All I can do is wonder about is pointless, of course."

"I really am sorry about your hands." she apologizes for the fight that must have broken out when Peeta declared his undying love for Katniss. My mentor called it the "star-crossed lovers" ploy, as if the rest of us don't have those situations already, we chose to keep them private. I can understand where Peeta is coming from, neither of them have legacies, so they have to rely on sponsors to keep them alive and if the love ploy works in their favour, I'm all for it

"It doesn't matter, Katniss," he says. "I've never been a contender in these Games anyway."

"That's no way to be thinking," she snaps.

"Why not? It's true. My best hope is to not disgrace myself and . . ." He hesitates.

"And what?" she says.

"I don't know how to say it exactly. Only . . . I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?" he asks.

"I don't want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I'm not."

"Do you mean you won't kill anyone?" she asks.

"No, when the time comes, I'm sure I'll kill just like everybody else. I can't go down without a fight. Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to . . . to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games," says Peeta.

"But you're not," she mutters. "None of us are. That's how the Games work."

"Okay, but within that framework, there's still you, there's still me," he insists. "Don't you see?"

"A little. Only . . . no offense, but who cares, Peeta?" Katniss says.

"I do. I mean, what else am I allowed to care about at this point?"

The kid makes a valid point.

"Care about what Haymitch said. About staying alive."

Peeta smiles at her, sad and mocking. "Okay. Thanks for the tip, sweetheart."

"Look, if you want to spend the last hours of your life planning some noble death in the arena, that's your choice.I want to spend mine in District Twelve."

"Wouldn't surprise me if you do," says Peeta. "Give my mother my best when you make it back, will you?"

"Count on it," she says. Then she turns to leave the roof.

Six and I flatten ourselves against the wall to let her pass us and keep our breath sucked in. I doubt she would notice anything otherwise. She's so focused on winning...but not like the others are. She's different, but I can't quite put my finger on how. I doubt she would hesitate to kill any of us if we provoked her, but she might listen if given the chance.

We wait patiently for Peeta to grow tired and leave the roof. At the same time, his words remain in my head. He, like us, doesn't want to be part of the Capitol's and Ra's games. He wants to die as himself and not lose sight of who he is. I know that all of us can take from that. We can't forget about Ella and forget about our purpose to protect the innocent. We can't get caught up in the Games. But if we're successful, Peeta may not have to die a noble death at all.

It takes a little while but he soon gets up and leaves. Once he shuts the door I let go of Six's hand and become visible again. I go over to the small garden and I see Nine, Three And Adam climb up over the wall. Six comes down and sits next to me. Eight and Marina materialize onto the roof and we wait for Christina. I assume she was coming up with Five and sure enough, both of them float up and over the roof.

"Okay" I say, not really sure of where to start. "Tomorrow, the Games start and we have no plan of action."

Christina swallows hard and looks at me. She wants to tell everyone what she told me, but I tell her that it can wait until we have a secure plan.

Fortunately Six comes to my rescue.

"I think we need to scatter after the first initial go off. Make it seem like we know what we're doing."

"We can't go into the Cornucopia because that becomes a blood bath within the first seconds of starting off. If people find out I can't be killed because of my skin, it'll ruin everything" Christina says. "We need to grab what's easy to carry and split off. I also think John, Six and Marina should become invisible and wait until all the tributes scatter, then you can heal anyone who we think can save."

"I like that but what happens after that?" Marina asks.

"We'll have to track each other." Three says. "We'll have to meet up and start tracking the other tributes. If we can do that, we'll have a huge alliance."

"Then what?" Nine asks.

"We'll use out abilities to wreck the arena." Adam says. "Nothing can withstand me shaking it up a bit."

"When we do that, we can find out way back to the Capitol and take out Snow and Ra before they can give the signal to start an invasion." I say, letting my Lumen glow slightly. "We'll also need to find the others and hopefully revive Ella."

"But if the invasion is started while we're in the arena?" Three asks.

I swallow hard. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, but if Christina can tell One and the others to start towards the Capitol, we can easily meet up and..."

"What about Ella?" Marina cuts in.

I sigh and scratch the back of my neck. This coma is making things a lot more complicated. I wonder if Ra puller this stunt with Ella to make sure the others wouldn't get in contact with us and start a battle against the Mogadorians. If the others stay in place... They can easily be picked off and killed since we're the strongest together. But at the same time, Christina said that Ella's vision means she's his heir to something, meaning he wouldn't kill Ella if she's valuable.

"I...I..." I stammer.

"I think we should use the time we're on T.V. to cause an uproar in the districts." Six says out of the blue.

"Why?" Eight asks.

"If we do that...we won't be alone when it comes to fighting an invasion. Humans outnumber the Mogs a hundred to one, we get them on our side, the Mogs don't stand a chance and since the entire districts of Panem are watching, this could work to our advantage." she answers.

"I like that!" Nine says, rubbing his hands together. "We can expose Snow and Ra for who they really are and get everyone in the fighting mood! When the Mogs do invade, we'll have an eve bigger army ready"

"It just might work!" Eight breaths. He grabs Marina's hand and squeezes it. "We'll be unstoppable!"

"And once we free Panem. We can go back to Lorien." Marina finishes.

It sounds like an okay plan, there are few blank spaces to fill, but those are things that are not within our control. I look over at Christina and ask her if she's ready to share. Surprisingly, she shakes her head.

No, at least not yet. We're in the right mindset right now. If they know about what I've seen, they'll second guess themselves

But...

If we succeed this future may not even happen. I will tell them, but not yet.

I want to argue further but it seems pointless right now. We have a plan that will help us win the war and then the future Christina and Three have seen might not happen. I'm still nervous, but I decide we all need to get some sleep so we're ready for tomorrow.

"I guess we're in good shape, now lets get some sleep. We'll talk more once we meet up in the arena." I say.

We all get up and hug each other, knowing it might be awhile before we see each other again. I hug Christina and she whispers..."Don't worry right now. I'll know if something happens."

We then break off an head back to our floors.

When i get into bed, I know I'm not going to sleep very well. Not knowing what's to come next.


	22. Chapter 21: Let The Games Begin

Christina's (Number Ten) POV

I wake up the next morning, a bit sick and with a throbbing headache. I spent half the night trying to get back inside Ella's head with no such success. I tried to sleep for at least a little while, but the future I saw in Ella's vision kept popping up and the fact that I've only told John about what I saw, made it harder for my mind to shut down. When I did get to sleep, it wasn't for very long. I see the sunrise in my room. It's so beautiful that I know I'm going to miss it when we end up in the arena. If we are in fact going into battle after we escape the Games, this might be the last essence of beauty I'll see in a long time.

I get up and dress myself. My stylist comes in and guides me outside to where a hovercraft appears and drops a rope ladder. I grab a hold of it and I feel myself freeze into place with some kind of current. It's the weirdest sensation, makes me feel helpless and unable to do anything. The second the current stops I let go and shake the sensation out of my body

Once I'm aboard, a woman in a lab coat comes up to me with some kind of syringe device.

"What is that?" I ask.

"Your tracker, the stiller you are , the faster it's over." the woman responds.

She takes my forearm and attempts to place it. At first nothing happens and she frowns. She does a second attempt and still nothing. She forces the needle harder against me skin. By the fourth attempt, she's trying to stab me in the arm. She looks up at me and I can't help, but smile.

"Having trouble?" I grin eagerly.

She frowns, but I can see she's trying desperately to hold her composure. She's freaked out and I know there's no way they can introduce the tracker into my arm.

She sighs in frustration and switches arms, nothing happens. She stabs so hard the next time she lifts the needle up, it's completely bent out of shape.

She looks up at me in horror.

"What kind of unholy thing are you?" she whispers in a panic.

"Something you don't want to mess with." I warn her.

I know she has to get a tracker in me somehow. She disappears down the hall of the hovercraft and doesn't re-appear for a few minutes. When she comes back, she has some kind of long string in her hand. She grabs my arm again and I watch in horror as the string like thing, slithers up my lower arm and wraps itself onto my upper arm like a snake, just above the elbow. It hardens in place and I know that there is no getting rid of it. It feels like it's trying to embed itself into my skin, but I know it won't make it too far. It also feels really sticky, and I know that there is tracker within its thick folds. I guess that's more than one way to track a tribute.

Once I'm traceable, I'm allowed to go and eat with my stylist. I say nothing to her at all, knowing that we both hate each other. I eat what I can hold, knowing it is all about survival. I drink plenty of fluids to keep myself hydrated. I can feel slight fear and anticipation of what's coming. This will be when we take a stand against Ra!

My stylist and I exit the hovercraft after about a half an hour ride in the hover craft. We go deep into the ground in what's known as the catacombs, the basement areas where we'll be launched into the Games. I clean myself up in private and my stylist hands me the package of clothing that we all wear in the arena. I suit myself up easily. The thing is light and very functional. Brown pants, green shirt, brown belt, flexible and sturdy boots and a black jacket. As long as I can fight in it, I'm good.

"Good luck" my stylist mutters and then leaves me alone.

I look at myself in the mirror, I look ready to do battle. I clench my fists and then pull my hair up into my signature ponytail.

Suddenly the door re-opens.

"Almost forgot." my stylist says. She tosses something to me and then leaves, this time for good.

"Thank you." I yell out after her.

I look at what she tossed to me.

My pendant!

How the hell did she get a hold of it? I must have left it on my nightstand. Each tribute is allowed to have some kind of token as long as it is not used as a weapon. I pull it up, never to leave my neck again. The Loralite seems to glow with anticipation, beating against my excited heart. I know that these pendants hold more than what they seem, I've heard the voice of the Elders inside before, I know we'll find out the secret soon

I sit and eat a little bit more so I'm ready to run. A mechanical voice comes over the speaker and announces that I need to get ready for launching.

I step on the metal plate and a glass cylinder closes around me. I can feel myself going up towards the arena. For the few seconds I'm in darkness, I try to meditate. In that brief few seconds I see a vision.

My stomach twists hard. I'm in a room filled with smoke an I can hear a battle going on. I turn in confusion and I see Sam and Mark shooting their guns into the smoke. They are both dirty and have some cuts on them. They look like they've been through hell.

"We have to find Sarah!" Mark yells over the chaos.

I can hear the ground rumbling under their feet, which means One is at work. I suddenly see red hair come out from some of the smoke. It's Two, she has a gash along her forehead and one of the lenses in her glasses is gone. She carries a gun with her and long steak knife protrudes from her belt.

"Come one hurry!" she yells over the noise. "They're after Ella!"

THEY! I know who they are. Ra said something in the vision about Ella being his heir and he picks now to try and grab her, when we're unable to do anything, being launched into the games. I see Two, Sam and Mark rush out and down the hall. Somehow I follow them into the smoldering wreckage. I hear screams coming from the next room. I get inside which I now recognize as Blake's and my room. I see the bed strewn upwards to shield from the blaster fire. I see Sarah trying to hold onto a still unconscious Ella and Blake returning blaster fire with the Mogs. Two Sam and Mark are trapped in the door by the canon fire, unable to give assistance to the others. Sam and Mark start shooting at the Mogs outside, trying to reach Blake, Sarah and Ella. but I see that one Mog makes it through on all fours crawling behind the bed used as cover. He stabs Sarah in the shoulder and slashes Blake across the leg causing both of them to stop and allowing him to drag Ella away from them. He throws something that explodes into a cloud of smoke, preventing Sam, Two or Mark from stopping them. The firing suddenly stops and I can see the shadowy figures are retreating to their awaiting ship.

I feel so helpless now and I blink hard again as my eyes make contact with bright sunlight. The wind hits my face and I allow my eyes to adjust.

I feel so weak and helpless. My legs feel like jelly and my stomach becomes hollow realizing what I just saw is happening right now. The others are under attack, Blake and Sarah are wounded and Ella's been captured! I want to cry so badly, but I have to stay strong for as long as possible.

I hear the voice of Claudius Templesmith boom over a speaker.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let the seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games begin!"


	23. Chapter 22: Sealing The Alliance

John's (Number Four) POV

Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven...

Count down to the beginning. The beginning of the Games and the battle for our lives. My heart pounds loudly in my chest and my palms are on fire. The beginning of our rebellion against Ra and the Capitol.

I scan across the field at the other tributes, searching for the others. We're all on raised platforms, waiting for the signal to start. We're all positioned facing this shiny, weird shaped horn that I think is called the Cornucopia. Inside and outside the horn is flowing with stuff that we'll need. Backpacks, food, medicine and weapons. I know our greatest weapons are our legacies, but it doesn't mean that we won't need back up and food to survive.

Forty-six, forty-five, forty-four...

I look around at the other tributes. I can't see everyone of the Loric, but I'm sure they know what to do. Marina is a few platforms down from me. We, on occasion, exchange glances of slight re-assurance. Our priority is to find Six and disappear. I don't know if I'm ready to stomach what we might see when the gong goes off. Sure I've killed many Mogs before, but I've only seen a few humans ever die.

Thirty-three, thirty two...

Henri was one...and Sarah and Ella, when the Mogs attacked them. They didn't actually die, I managed to save them, but the blood and the burns that covered their faces and in those brief few seconds where my worst fears were coming true, losing another Garde and the love of my life, I wanted nothing more than to die with them. forget everything and sacrifice myself to be with them. Fortunately, I made it to them in time and my healing legacy developed when I needed it the most.

Twenty-one, twenty, nineteen...

My stomach suddenly knots and I hear what sounds like sobbing in my head. I can't see Christina, but I know she's the one crying, at least in her mind.

What's wrong? I say into my mind.

Ten... nine... eight...

The Mogs attacked the others! They...

Five... four... three...two...

They got Ella!

One...

The gong goes off and we're released. The strongest tributes bolt from their places and sprint towards the Cornucopia. The news of Ella has thrown me off and I'm confused beyond belief. I start running for the center. I can see the blood already flying and the screams of some of the others. I stop for a brief second, scanning frantically for Marina. I suddenly see the girl from District 2 aim knives at anyone who moves. I duck and cover behind and stack of supplies and try to gather my bearings. I'm shaking on the inside.

"Find Marina and Six, then worry about Ella..." I say to myself.

I slowly raise my head and to my good fortune, Clove from District 2 is distracted, chasing the girl from District 12. I see Cato running after another tribute and Marvel, with Glimmer sorting through supplies. The Careers basically have first dibs on everything. I know I'm not safe here and I need to find Marina and Six.

I eye a back pack just a couple of meters from me. I reach out with my hand and pull it towards me. I hear the whizzing of a blade as Clove tries to get me. I manage to deflect it with my telekinesis. I grab the backpack and run for the trees. I'm running as hard as I can. I'm hoping I can outrun the distance of Clove's knives. My heart is pounding in my head and my blood is coursing through my veins at record speeds. I hear one knife whiz past my head, missing my ear by an inch. I never give her a chance to throw another when I reach the trees. I put some distance between me and the Cornucopia, but remain relatively close. I make sure I wasn't followed and then I start running in a general direction around the Cornucopia.

I pull my backpack over my shoulders and start scanning for Marina and Six. We need to hurry before the anymore kids die. I hear one canon that signifies the death of a tribute. That's one kid who never got the chance to be healed. I pick up the pace, running. Time is fleeting very quickly. Another canon. My feet become faster and more frantic.

Suddenly I feel someone grab me from behind. I immediately jolt upwards, ready to fight whoever's caught up to me, but I don't see anyone.

"Six?" I ask breathlessly.

" Where were you? We were trying to find you!" she hisses. "I didn't have a chance to grab anything, we'll need to sneak a few things away when we can."

I reach over and feel Six's grasp.

"What happened?" I hear Marina asked as we head towards the opening in the field.

"Sorry...I was distracted." I whisper. "I'll explain later."

We take quick, but quiet steps together towards the opening to the field. We stop at the very edge of the trees.

It's a blood bath, bodies strewn about, weapons laying around. The only problem is that the Careers are still there too, sorting through their supplies and making sure that the others are dead.

I spy the nearest body who's still breathing.

"Here!" I whisper, yanking the two of them towards the body. I look at her face and recognize her as the girl tribute from District 3.

"Come on Marina." I say, touching the girl. "With both our powers, we'll be able to heal her." Usually we need both our hands to heal, but then our cover would be blown and have the Careers come and attack.

I place my hand on her stomach where she's bleeding profusely. I see the imprint of Marina next to me and we concentrate hard.

As the warm feeling seeps from my body to hers, I start to wonder who she ended up facing. I assume that it was either Cato or Thresh, both use blunt force to subdue their victims and then kill them. The girl's chest falls and rises quickly as our healing works hard to undo the damage. I feel several of her muscles knead back together and the gaping hole in her stomach reform.

The girl's eyes open and she sucks in a big breath. She looks around confused on how she managed to survive the attack.

"Stay down!" Six hisses under her breath. "The Careers are watching."

The girl remains still, breathing quietly. I can tell she's scared and confused about everything, but none of us have time to explain.

I reach out with my telekinesis and concentrate on something near the Careers, something to cause a diversion. I take a crate and hurtle it across the field, catching the attention of the others.

"What the hell was that?" one of them said. They go after the missing crate with their weapons raised.

"Go!" Six hisses.

The girl scrambles up, grabs the nearest backpack and flees into the woods.

With quick, but quiet steps the three of us move to the next body. Six's district partner. He's fading quickly, so Marina and I go straight to work. He must have run into Clove, with the bleeding gashes on his back and a knife sticking out, just below his shoulder blade. I remove the blade and his body tenses and then relaxes. The Careers are still distracted, allowing him to escape too.

There were two kids we couldn't save we couldn't save. Eight and Nine's female counterparts were finished and we were too late to help them. Everyone else managed to escape, which is good for us, but we are scattered.

Six drops us off at the edge of the trees and then goes for some supplies. Marina wait as the hovercraft from above comes and scoops up the bodies. I can't help but feel guilty that we didn't get to them in time. We watch as several important objects disappear with Six's ability. I retrieve the backpack I got a hold of and we wait for Six.

When she re-appears, we make tracks quickly, knowing that the Careers will suspect something soon. We head up a large hill together and walk for about half an hour, hopefully putting some distance between us and the killer Careers.

We stop and sit for a moment to rest.

"Let's see what we have." I say. Hopefully some water is in one of them because we won't last long without it.

I sort through the backpack I snatched. Rope, some matches, a sleeping bag, a container with dried fruit and beef inside, a carving knife and some wire.

"That's all I got." I say, hoping for a little more food and maybe some water. I examine the carving knife and decide it can be useful as a weapon. I stick it in my belt, wishing for my jewel-encrusted dagger instead of some meek knife. I know we have our legacies, but it's nice to a little bit of warfare too.

Six sorts through her stuff and gives one of the bags to Marina.

"A few rations, a bottle for water, a tarp, sunglasses, extra boots and some kind of pellets." Six says.

"Let me see them." Marina says. She examines the pellets carefully. "I think I remember them from training, they're supposed to purify water for us."

"That'll be useful, when we find water." Six mutters.

Marina sorts through her supplies.

"A bottle for water, a dagger, a blanket, wire,first aid kit and..." she holds something up. "Some kind of gun?"

"Let me see." I say. I take the weapons from her. I examine it closely. How could a gun be useful if their so loud? They can be lethal though.

"Does it have any ammunition?" I ask.

Marina digs deep into the backpack and find a leather bound pouch.

"Here" she offers.

I unwrap the pouch and find a set of darts, the kind that people would use for tranquilizing animals. I pull out the back of the gun and load a dart into it. I take aim at the nearest tree and fire. The dart sticks int the trunk and some kind of liquid begins leaking from the point. I look at it on my fingers and smell it.

"Be careful!" Six warns. "It might be poisonous."

"Poisonous darts. How's that gonna help?" Marina asks.

"Killing, I guess, but we're trying to help not kill." Six answers.

"Maybe we can remove the poison and just use it as a dart gun?" Marina suggests.

"What good will that do?" Six asks

"Distraction?" I shrug. I hand the pouch back to Marina and she re-packs the bag.

I wipe the sweat from my brow and look up at the sunlight coming through the trees.

"We need to find water first before we track down the others." I say.

"And get some food," Marina adds.

"Hunting...that's more Three and Nine's alley." I say, remembering Nine offering me cooked rabbit and Three living out in the wilderness for months on end.

I unzip my jacket to cool off. I look around both ways, figuring out which way to start.

"Anyone up for climbing?" I ask, thinking we need a way to see the arena in its entirety.

"I'll do it." Six volunteers. She picks the nearest tree and scales it in record time.

"You're quite the squirrel. See if you can find some nuts up there too" I joke and Six sticks her tongue out at me. She reaches the higher branches with careful and light steps, trying not to break the branches.

"Not much to see." Six calls down. "But I think I see an open swamp area due east of here."

"Anything else?" Marina asks.

"No sign of anyone we know. I do see the Cornucopia, and the Careers are making themselves right at home " Six answers.

Six lets go and floats herself to the ground with her telekinesis.

"Where are we going to stay for the night?" Marina asks.

I bite me lip and look up from where Six just came from.

"Up." I say.

We make tracks for the swamp. I start feeling around and notice the moss. I remember from the survival lessons that moss often carries water. I hold the moss above my head and squeeze. A tiny trickle of water comes out, refreshing my face and helping my parched tongue regain moisture.

"We're on the right track." I say with a smile.

We walk another little ways and we find a small babbling brook between a set of moss covered trees.

"Perfect!" Marina squeals and scoops a handful to drink.

"Wait!" Six says. "It needs to be purified first, that's what the pellets for remember?"

All of us groan, knowing that water will keep us strong, but we collect it in the bottles and add the pellets. We wait half and hour or so, which how long Marina says it takes and then we split the water between all of us. We take slow sips, re-hydrating as it starts to get darker.

We each divide some of the rations to eat up just for tonight. We can hunt later thanks to Marina's ability to see in the dark, but we really need to find the others soon. We have no idea how big the arena is nor where the others might have scattered to.

"Let's call it a night." I say stretching out.

We find a tree that's high enough for us to be well out of reach of any attackers. We all pick separate branches and secure our gear for the night. We decide to rotate sleeping shifts and rotate the sleeping bag because it does get colder once the sun goes down. I volunteer for first watch allowing Six and Marina to sleep. Marina agrees she will do some hunting on her shift, but for now she nestles under the blanket and relaxes.

We watch the Capitol symbol light up in the sky and show the deaths of the day. Two from the Cornucopia, nothing else. We have to listen to the anthem and then there's quiet. I cross my arms and keep a look out on the around around us. I soon hear Marina's soft groans, knowing she's asleep.

"You okay Six?" I ask, knowing she's not asleep yet.

"Yeah... just thinking."

"Anything in particular?" I ask.

"Sam..."

I might have known.

"Worried about him?"

"Yes... I know he cares deeply for me and I do too for him."

"But..." I say, biting my lip, unsure where this is going.

"But it's just not the right time for this... you know. I put him in so much danger by being so close. It could kill him and I know we've kissed and stuff, but I'm not ready... I mean..."

"Six..." I say with a small smirk. "Sam is a lot stronger than you give him credit for. You and I know he was born to be our ally and friend. With his dad and how he helped us when we first came here... it was meant to be some how. He won't stop until his planet is saved. As for you and him...what can I say? You two have one of the strongest bonds I've ever seen. Whether you want it to be a romance or not...that's your choice, but don't throw something away because you over think it. love works in mysterious ways. Look and Five and Clove, Three and Glimmer, Adam and One..."

"I guess you're right." she sighs.

"Get some sleep." I say. "Marina will wake you up later."

"Okay...good night John and thanks."

"Good night Six and your welcome."

I wait for awhile until I hear her hushed breathing. I light up my Lumen and do a quick scan of the area and then turn them off, trying not to draw too much attention.

I shut my eyes for a moment, listening to the sounds of the night. The rustle of a leaf, a cricket chirping, a skunk digging for food...

I reflect upon today and the violence and gore that went on. How could children do this to each other? How can the Capitol train kids to turn against one another in battle, just for money...? Who is heartless enough to enforce it.

I stare up at the stars and sigh. The answer is Snow and Ra, the dictators of cruelty and evil, who represent the Capitol's motives and reputation. What kind of world do we live in where people take delight in others' deaths? Can humans, the ones we strive to protect be anymore like the Mogs?

I lean back...

"Maybe we shouldn't help" I mutter.

I suddenly hear a piercing scream and the sound of a cannon. I fight back the tears. Whoever it was, I'm sorry we couldn't help them in time.

I know it's not Christina, she's too smart and she can't be killed any conventional way.

Christina...

I think back to what she said in my head...

They got Ella...

I nearly fall out of the tree, realizing what this means. The vision and Ella being his heir. He's one step closer to this vision that Christina had to becoming a reality and here we are, fighting for our lives in the arena! Ra! He has us right where he wants us! Helpless and easy to pick off. He's in control and now with Ella, the others are in serious danger as well as us. He could use Ella as a hostage and force us to kill each other.

I start t sweat and my palms become moist with my Lumen reacting. I need some more information... We need to act soon...We need to find each other...

We need to find Ella!


	24. Chapter 23: Amber

Number Nine's POV

When the gong goes, I bolt towards the supplies, knowing I'm far faster than anyone else. I make it to the good stuff. I grab two bags and start heading for the weapons. I really want the time to really pick a good blade, but I have like six Careers heading in the same direction. I pick a sword and bolt for the woods. I hear the sound of a blade whiz by my head. I manage to start running backwards and see the girl from District 2 is trying to get me. I impulsively stick my tongue out at her and give her a smirk. I can see the anger in her eyes, but I'm on fire.

I turn back and pick up speed. That is until I feel a sharp pain strike my lower back.

Damn it she got me! I think to myself, but I need to keep going.

I should have never gotten so cocky so quickly, it always comes back to bite me in the ass...hard. I know if John was with me right now, he'd slug me and call me an idiot.

I keep running until I hit the trees. I know I'm safe for right now, but how long before the Careers come a hunting. I can feel the blade lodged in my back on the right side just above my butt and it hurts with every step I take, but I need to push on, find a safe place before all the Garde can find each other again and go kick Snow and Ra's asses.

I run for as far as I can go, until my body is begging me to stop. Normally I could go further, but the blade is digging itself into my flesh and I need to get rid of it soon.

I find a large ravine of rocks and throw my bags up over the ledge. With careful and slow movements, I climb up to join them. I can feel the warmth of the blood streaming down my back, as I apply pressure on my back from climbing. I bite my lip hard to keep myself from screaming out in pain. If it wasn't for this dagger, I would be up the ravine by now and searching for a place to hide.

Once I pull myself up over the rocks, I lie on my stomach to catch my breath. I can see the sun shining through the trees's leaves, creating bright beams that surround me. I know that I'm going to have to keep moving soon, or I'll be dead in a matter of hours. I need water and food.

I start to get up, but my joints and back insist I stay down. I slowly reach around to my back and tenderly touch where I was hit. I can feel the rigid and rough end of where I was hit, the rubber grip of the blade sticking out of my body. I slowly trace the outside of the wound. I bring my fingers around and they're covered in dark red blood. I know I have to get rid of it or the dagger will do a lot more damage on the inside. With a careful hand I grab the grip of the blade and slowly remove the metal from my back. It is painful, and I wish it was quick like ripping off a bandage, but that would do more bad than good.

It is an agonizing few seconds as the blade scrapes across the inside of my body, inch by inch, until I don't feel pressure back there anymore. I breath a small sigh of relief, feeling free from a heavy burden. No, I need to look at the aftermath.

I know I need to cover it up to prevent more blood loss. I know climbing wasn't the best idea, but I needed a safe place to rest.

I start digging through one of my backpacks, looking for any medical supplies at all that could be helpful. I have some wire, matches, a blanket, a tarp, extra clothing and a pairing knife. I stuff the weapon into my belt along with the bloodied dagger because despite what it did to me, it will still be useful.

I search the other pack , but it only has rations, a bottle with some water in it, a flashlight, socks, tape, a compass and a hat.

What useless crap? I think to myself. Here I am bleeding to death and the Captiol doesn't have the decency to pack first aid. Maybe that'll make sure we die quicker.

I decide to improvise. I use the knife to cut some fabric from the blanket. I soak it in the clean water and then gently press it to my back. It stings because the water is cold, but it'll have to do. I use the tape to keep the cloth in place.

Now that I'm taken care of, I will need to move slowly, but quickly. I gather all my stuff and put the sword I snatched into my belt. I make tracks along the rocky ravine, careful to avoid any loose stones. I know that I'll have to make camp soon.

I start going through the trees behind the ravine, looking for a good place to sleep undetected. I come across a group of trees fairly close together and with thick brush at their bases. I throw my bags into the bushes, knowing that they will be hard to see. I clear away any rocks and sticks and sit for a few moments. My head is pounding and I think my cut is swelling, my back is hot and it feels like the skin around the wound is throbbing. I know I shouldn't strain my body so much, but I need to survive and find the Garde.

I start gathering wood for a fire. BBQ rabbit for dinner sounds fantastic that my stomach growls in anticipation. I know I am still a little weak, but I'm strong enough to set a snare for food. I use some of the wire from one of the packs to rig up a snare. I learned some hunting skills from Sandor when we went camping a few times when I was younger. I learned to eat unusual things like squirrel and even skunk, but rabbit was and still is my favourite. I start searching around for more water while my snare entraps something, knowing that this bottle will be empty soon. I feel fairly uncomfortable and sore with the wet bandage I have to absorb the blood.

I begin feeling the ground, looking for moist spots between the rocks like Sandor taught me to do. I start finding moss along the rocks and I come to what appears to be a stream that goes off the rocks of ravine like a waterfall and pools at the bottom.

I lower myself down carefully and start gathering more water.

That's when I hear a twig snap behind me. I flinch and look around quickly, searching for anybody or anything that might be on the prowl.

Nothing.

I go back to collecting water. It's quiet for a few minutes until another twig snaps, harder and louder than the last time. This time I draw my sword and scan behind me.

"Come on out and fight." I hiss angrily.

Still nothing.

I finish gathering some water and pull myself up on the rocks. The strain on my body is hard, but I persevere. I go back to camp and get ready to light the fire.

My strong hearing picks up something, the sound of breathing...I turn and narrow down the sound to behind a tree a couple feet behind me. I take slow steps to creep up on this thing. I then jump out and shove the shoulder of a person to get them out of their hiding spot to face me.

"Please don't kill me!" the girl screeches. She hold her hand in front of her face and is cringing, trying to hide herself. She is in no way threatening or dangerous. I blow some of my long hair out of my face and put my sword down. I lean against the tree, knowing I'm in no shape to fight either her or anyone else. She has the advantage and could easily kill me. This is exactly what Ra wanted, to be killed off by some fifteen year old kid who has no idea what she's doing. Where are the Garde when you need them?

I have to sit down and I hang my head between my legs, to keep myself from vomiting. I can't throw up again or I really will die. My head starts spinning and I begin to dry heave. Of all the ways I'd thought I would die, never would I have pictured this way, stuck in a death arena, separated from my own species, alone except for some girl I don't know and letting the Mogadorians watch for their amusement.

I take some deep breaths and shut my eyes, waiting for the dizziness to subside before I die. I start to wonder if it will hurt when I die, or is it like falling asleep?

Suddenly, cold, but gentle hands wrap around my face and tilt my head upwards. I feel cool water go down my throat, the thing is that I don't gag and let it seep into my body.

"Where were you hit?" a soft voice asks.

I swallow the remaining water and point at my back.

"The girl from D 2 got me with her weapon of choice." I roll onto my stomach and lie across the roots of the tree, not caring what happens to me. She can strangle me for all care, she's got the power, not me. I feel sick again, but I keep myself from losing the fluid again. I'm sweating like crazy and my head starts to spin again.

I feel gentle hands pull up the back of my jacket to get a look at the wound. She can probably see the make shift bandage I made and how it is not helping at all.

"This looks bad." she says.

"You think?" I mutter angrily.

"I'll see if I can help."

I don't have time to argue when the water and what food I had comes back up. I vomit into the grass and groan as the pressure on my stomach becomes tighter. I take some more deep breaths, trying to settle my stomach for awhile, but end up feeling worse.

I hear the zipping of a backpack and some rustling around. This girl, whatever her name is, takes off my bandage and applies pressure to the wound with something softer. I wince and groan with the pain, trying not to cry in front of a girl.

"Sorry." she says, "But we have to prevent any more loss of blood."

"What can you do anyways?" I mutter angrily.

"I'm not great at healing, but I can do some things. My mom was a nurse back in the district."

"What district is that?" I mumble.

"Three..."

The electronics district. Great, I'm letting a techno geek take care of me, how much more screwed can I be right now?

I hear more rustling and something cold suddenly hits by back, causing my body to stiffen and spasm like a reflex and me to almost yell out.

"What the hell?" I screech and roll over. My body shivers with the exposure and I try to move away from her. She's just making it worse.

"Sorry, but we have to clean it to prevent blood poisoning or infection."

"That would be great." I mutter sarcastically. "Kill me even slower."

"Do you ever shut up?" she snaps.

"Not while I'm awake." I moan.

"This is going to sting and be cold, but you'll feel so much better after."

"Unlikely." I say and recede defeat. There's no way I can get away from her, nor am I in no shape to do so anyway. I'll just let her do what she wants to me. If she wants to kill me, she can, if she wants to help me...why, but she can.

I feel her wipe at my wound and spread some more cold water on it. She applies strong amount of pressure and rummages through some more things in either my back packs or hers. I feel her apply some kind of liquid or cream to the wound and then I feel the poking and sharp prodding as she stitches the wound up.

I finally feel a little bit of relief when she wraps up the wound with plenty of bandages and takes her hands off.

She then moves toward me and lift me face to look at it.

Her eyes are a dark brown, a chocolate brown and her hair is also a dark brown, pulled back into a some kind of braid. Her features are small, but also elongated slightly. She looks tired, but at the same time worried.

She brushes my hair out of my face and gives me a small smile.

"You're gonna be okay" she whispers before I fall unconscious.

I wake up to the bright sunlight streaming down onto my face and into my eyes. It takes me a minute to process where I am and what happened.

I roll over sightly, only to feel the pain of my wound and cause me to gasp out loud and roll back. I look up to see the same girl from D 3 sleeping close by, next to a small pile of burned branches. I can see her chest slowly rising and falling, meaning she's not dead. I sit up slowly. I see a piece of birch bark in front of me with what looks like meat and a few plants.

She left food for me? I think to myself. I pick up the food, knowing my stomach is empty and eat without any second thoughts.

What is this chick's deal? She helps me and feeds me before she kills me? This doesn't make any sense?

I ponder this as I rip the meat off the bones and chew hard. I feel so hungry since I emptied my stomach last night. I slowly reach around and touch the wound on my back. It's dry and clean. I am still feeling weak, but better than yesterday.

I watch this girl sleeping, my sword in her hand. Maybe she intended to kill me but dozed off? It looks more like she was on guard duty.

I reach into the bushes for my bag and find a way to re-light the small fire. I eat the rest of what she left for me and just look at her.

She looks kind of hot, in a geeky kind of way. She's tall and thin from lack of food I guess, but still able bodied.

Eventually I hear her groan and she stretches out before opening her chocolate brown eyes. She blinks a few times and looks up at me. Her lips form into a small smile

I shoot her a look of confusion as she sits up.

"Morning" she says quietly.

"Morning..." I reply.

We're quiet for awhile and she hands me back my sword. I start poking the small fire with my sword and trying to avoid her gaze.

"How are you feeling this morning?" she asks casually.

"Better..." I say honestly. "But it seems you're going through an awful lot of trouble to kill me."

"I don't want to kill you." she says.

"That's what Brutus said to Caesar."

"Who?" she asks.

Right these kids don't know about actual history. Everything they learn is controlled and mostly made up BS.

"Nothing." I hiss and poke at the ashes.

We're quiet for another little while.

"Do you want to know why I helped you?" she offers.

"Not really, how do I know you're not one of them killer Careers. That just wants to suck up to me to survive long enough to kill me"

"Because I was almost dead yesterday." she answers.

I shoot her another look.

"I was close to death. I ended up meeting one of those Careers and he gave me what for. I knew then, as I lay there that I was going to die. I saw the light fading and could feel darkness creeping into my vision. But then suddenly, something warm and cold, slithered up into my body and I felt myself..." She pauses trying to find the right words. "Healing."

I look up at her, knowing that John and Marina had saved her, but I keep my mouth shut.

"Suddenly, the light came back and I was laying on a bloodied battlefield. Some voice in my head told me to stay down. I did what it said and when it told me to run, I got something and I ran. I ran for my life depended on it. I ran until I reached the ravine. That's when I saw you and saw you looking for water. I knew something was off because you were hobbling a bit. I watched you gather the water and I climbed up the rocks to try and beat you to your camp. I was hoping to steal some food, but then I saw how wounded you were, I saw the blood stains on your pants and I knew you needed help... But then you kind of attacked me... and..."

She stops and looks up at me. I don't know why, but my heart starts pounding harder than before and my face becomes warm. I haven't felt something like this since...Maddy.

I push the memory from my mind, trying to keep my stomach from rejecting what I just ate. I shrug.

"Thanks for not killing me." she says with a small smile.

I glare at her, but then smirk.

"Thanks for not killing me." I frown. "I guess we're even now so we can go our separate..."

"What?!" she says in surprise. I suddenly see her face turn red and she pulls her knees up to her chest. She hides her face in embarrassment and says nothing more.

I start to understand what she's thinking. The chick likes me. I should have seen it before because she didn't kill me. I don't even know her name, nor does she know mine or what I even am. This is like the thing that Three has for the smoking hot girl from D1 and Five for that D2 girl. Guess it's my turn to fall in love with...

LOVE?

That's insane! Your hallucinating from being sick. That's why your stomach is flipping around, you're still sick. I push the thought from my mind. Last time I feel in love, it went south real fast.

I slowly stand up and suddenly hobble to one side. I've never been this weak before and I'm not liking it very much. I need my strength to kick Ra's ass.

My back throbs and I gasp. I hate feeling like this. I need to find John or Marina so they can deal with this, but now I've got a tag along.

I start to wonder if she would like to meet the people who saved her...

NO WAY! I think. She's not coming with us! She's just going to slow me... I stop, realizing that I would slow her. I'm the vulnerable one... It's not like I'm going to kill her anyways. I have a fricken conscience and Mogs are the only thing I'd rather slay. But if I do leave her here, she might die anyways...

I start to think about what Christina said about finding more allies to aid in the war. Even though humans aren't the strongest, they can be useful and besides, these kids were built to kill. We can just channel the killing to Mogs. The Careers are the obstacles, not her or any of the lower Districts. Maybe... Just maybe...

I hobble over to her and pull the dagger from my belt. I drop the dagger in front of her. She looks up.

"Hope you can throw a knife." I say.

I pull the bags from the bushes and prepare myself to leave. I lean really close to her, my hear throbbing in my ears.

"Listen" I say softly. "I can't promise anything, but if help me meet up with some of my friends, we'll all be allies and we might be able to take the Careers down."

"But what if..."

"Just listen...and if that works. " I get up real close to her ear. "You might be able to get out alive."

She looks up at me in confusion, she opens her mouth but then closes it. She watches me as I stomp on the fire hard, too hard. I lose my balance, but I feel her hands come up to keep me balanced.

She goes under my arm and allows me to lean on her. I feel warm all over and my heart is going crazy, like its having a seizure.

"Lean on me." she smiles gently. She picks up her bag and we start towards any direction that might lead us to the Garde.

"You sure you still want to help me?" I ask. "I'm injured so I'm slower and makes both of us vulnerable. Plus we're supposed to kill each other eventually."

"It's okay." she says. "I don't care what happens. I know I wasn't gonna win. I didn't have a chance, but something helped get a second chance...and right now you are part of that chance. I trust you..."

I swallow hard and look at her.

"I trust you too."

We work our way through the trees, step by step so I can keep the pain to a minimum. She doesn't complain or anything, just keeps looking ahead.

I remember something.

"I'm N... Milo"

"Amber"


	25. Chapter 24: Trust is aDouble Edged Sword

Number Five's POV

The gong goes off, it's begun. The battle for our lives.

I'm hesitating on my platform, deciding to watch the others kill each other for no other reason. I decide that I'll need some before cover before it's safe to come and join the Careers. I run for the woods and take cover behind a tree.

I watch the scattered forms of the other tributes wither and disappear into the woods, or fall to the ground.

I can't tell which one is my sister, but I know she's smart enough to run...plus she can't be killed...conventionally anyways.

I wait for the cannons to go off. Two blasts do go off, but I do see two tributes get up and run. I assume that John carried out his plan to help as many tributes as possible. Once the hovercraft picks up the two bodies, I stroll out nonchalantly and head towards the Cornucopia in the bright sunlight.

Once I get near the supplies I see Clove's face light up with a small smile.

"Hey" she says, sorting through the assortment of knives given.

"Hey" I say back.

Cato comes up to me and shoves me out of his way.

"Cyclopes." he mutters

"Douche bag" I respond with spite.

He grabs the collar of my coat and tries to lift me off the ground.

"Listen here, the only reason I'm not ripping your head off right now is because Clove says you're useful. I trust her more than anyone else, but I still haven't forgiven you for what happened in the cafeteria and once this alliance thing is over, I'm going to be on your ass faster than you can breath."

I'm hardly intimidated by Cato's words. I've had a lot worse said and done to me than what Cato's threatening. (Right Marina?) Once he lets go of my collar, I stare him in the eye and snort.

"Look forward to it." I smirk at him.

I know I could beat Cato easily. I'm a hell of a lot stronger than him, plus I can fly and make my skin metal whenever I want. I could snap his neck and move on to win.

I look over at Clove who's chatting with that other girl...Glimmer. Both are talking seriously and hardly look at anyone else, not the typical way that most girls their age would talk. I guess I'm so used to seeing my sister laugh and giggle with the other Garde, that I'd expect all girls to be like that.

I put my sister out of my mind and move towards the piles of stuff.

I decide the best place to start is by arming myself with all these weapons. I go through things from knives, sword, clubs, maces, tridents and sickles (some kind of farm tool). I pick up a knife at one point and use its reflection in the sun to shine it next to Clove. At first, she ignores it and continues talking with Glimmer, but I make the light reflection dance and see how much time it would take for her to get annoyed. Eventually she looks at me and glares. She goes back to Glimmer, but I make the reflection even more intense and make it act like a strobe light. This time she flips me the bird and mouths for me to stop it.

I don't know why, but I just want to piss her off. Make her feel angry so she'll pay attention to me. I do it once more and she chucks a knife at me. I manage to duck and the knife lodges itself in the metal of the Cornucopia. I can't help, but laugh .

"You missed." I taunt.

"I meant to. Next time you toy with this..." she indicates the knife. "will go through your fat head."

"Oooo so scary" I tease.

Clove sticks her tongue out and does her best to ignore me from then on.

I know I'm pushing my luck with Clove and her temper, but in the end, I just want to be near her. We kissed the other night and it was amazing, I loved every minute of it. She's the one for me and...

It suddenly dawns on me that our relationship won't get far, maybe not even start. Especially because of where we are and what we're supposed to do to each other. I don't really know what I was thinking being so okay with the games. Clove and I will never be a thing unless we sabotage the games like the other Garde planned to. I start to think about whether the possibility of Clove and I being the only ones left. Would she hesitate to kill me? Would...Could I kill her?

I swallow hard and turn back to the weapons. I find a container of dried meat, rip the lid off and start gnawing on it to distract myself. I keep looking at Clove

"Anyone want beef?" I ask.

The others look at me and raise their eyebrows.

"Don't eat that Dumb-ass." Cato says, grabbing the container and dumping the contents on the ground. He stomps on it in a fit of anger.

"What the hell?!" Clove and I yell.

"There was plenty for everyone!" Clove growled. "You're such an idiot Cato!"

"And a douche." I add with a small smirk

Cato's hands clench together before he plows at me and slams me against the metal of the Cornucopia.

"Want to take that back?" he offers in this inane hiss. "Alliance or not, I'm going to end you now!"

I can see the anger in his eyes, but it's not normal anger... like Nine's or even Marina's...it's a lot darker...deeper, like his entire body is mad. I can see one of his eyes twitch slightly and his fist also shakes erratically. I've only ever seen this in Mogs...the dude is insane...or at least on the path to it. He's a sociopath in the making. He has no sympathy, no grief, no anything, except anger...he's a killing machine and he doesn't think, he just does thing. I don't show it, but I feel slightly frightened by him. I've never been face to face with a psycho before and I definitely don't want to be like this again.

Clove's hand comes up and holds Cato's shoulder, trying to force him away from me.

"Cato stop it!" she orders.

Cato growls and keeps eyeing me, his arms become harder as he tries to restrict my breathing, kill me slowly.

"CATO, ENOUGH!" Clove says loudly.

Cato growls and tightens his fists. He looks down at his feet and takes in three sharp breaths that are strangled and harsh. He's having a hard time letting go. The dude is trying to come back to sanity...if he has any to begin with.

Slowly, his grip loosens and he lets me go. He forces himself away from me and doesn't look back. He picks up his sword and goes to a nearby tree and starts stabbing it repeatedly.

Clove comes to see if I'm okay. I pull myself up and brush myself off.

"I'm fine." I say. "I could have taken him."

"Don't get on Cato's bad side...At least not right now." Clove whispers. "He has a serious anger problem and doesn't do well with rivals of any kind."

"The guys a psychopath in the making." I say under my breath.

"I know he is...sometimes it seems that I'm the only one who can talk him out of his insane state."

"Something tells me it'll eventually be permanent."

"Let's not talk about that." she mutters.

Suddenly, there is snapping and crackling, like someone's approaching us. All the Careers get up and arm themselves, thinking it could be an attacker. The only one who I'd see as a threat is that big guy from D11. The snapping gets louder until the blonde kid from D12 comes through the brush. We all stand in surprise.

"What do you want?" Glimmer asks.

The guy looks at his shoes before looking at us again.

"I was...wondering if you needed an extra hand with the hunting and...uh... killing."

We're all pretty shocked. This kid wants to join the alliance? That's like a death wish in the making. Does he want security? Food? We can't say for sure. This kid might kill us in our sleep. I look at the kid again and that theory goes out the window when I see how innocent and non-threatening the guy appears to be. Maybe that's just a cover for a more sinister plan.

"Why the hell would we need you?" Cato barks.

The kid kicks some dirt and shrugs.

"I can help you catch tributes and I'm pretty good with heavy stuff."

We all eye him suspiciously. Cato walks around him a few times, taking everything in. He looks like a tiger waiting to pounce, encircling his prey. The kid is well-built and he seems that he's smart enough to run from the Bloodbath earlier. He doesn't seem like he's really resourceful, having nothing on him, not even a weapon. I can't see how he'd help us at all.

Cato goes back to us and we all stare at him.

"I can help you catch her." he adds quietly.

Her?

There's a long pause as we think it over.

"Give us a second." Cato says.

We're all pulled into a huddle to discuss in private.

"We can't trust him" Glimmer interjects. "Plus he's useless to us anyway."

"I agree." Marvel says. "I think we should kill him now. He'll never see it coming."

"Hold on." Clove says. "He might be useful."

"How?" Glimmer protests.

"Remember who he's in love with?" Clove says.

"I swear that love thing is a ploy for sponsors" Marvel interjects.

"Maybe, maybe not, but we could use him as diversion or scapegoat" I add.

The others look at me. I can see a bit of hesitation

"If he can't help us find the threats, he can distract the tributes, like the beefy guy and if he doesn't work out, leave him for the others to kill so we can get away."

They nod in slight agreement at my idea. I'm proud of myself that I'm being included in the group decision and coming up with ideas. I shift a bit closer to Clove.

"He does live in the same district as her. He'd know her well if he loved her, know her habits and skills. He could be our best chance of finding her." Glimmer says.

Her?! I guess they must mean his district partner Kasey?... Katie..Katniss! I guess because of her score, she's a threat. For a second I thought they might've meant Six or my sister, but I guess the Careers are focusing on the bigger threats. Besides, unbeknownst to them, Six can turn invisible and my sister can camouflage and use any material she has against us.

"If he's useless... We kill him." Cato concludes.

The others nod in agreement and we get out of the huddle. I get a little closer to Clove and I bump my hand next to her. My heart beats faster than before and my cheeks start to turn red. She shoots me a quick glance and shifts away a bit.

My heart sinks. Guess our make-out session was just a...then I realize that we're on T.V. nothing is private and everything is being broadcast to the Captiol and districts. I start to wonder if Clove wants to keep our...thing a secret, at least for now. The love card has already been played. I think that our relationship could get us even more sponsors than the D12 wimps. Our relationship would be strong, something fans could root for. I assume that Clove wants to wait until the two other lovers are dead before we show our feelings...If she has those feelings.

"Alright Lover boy." Cato says. "You can stay."

Marvel goes over and hands the kid a spear.

"Just don't think of double crossing us." Marvel snarls.

"Deal." the kid says.

It's just before night fall after Glimmer got a fire going and we've all eaten. We sit in silence, milling over our supplies and fiddling with our weapons. Occasionally, Clove and I exchange side glances. I smile at her a few times and she returns the gesture.

"Grab your stuff Cyclops. We're going hunting." Cato says.

"Hunting?" I say in a confused voice. "But we have tonnes of food."

Cato snorts and Marvel also laughs. They pick up their weapons and use a rock to make sure it's nice and sharp. Clove arranges the knives in her jacket while the blonde kid...Peeta watches me wearily and just clings to the spear he was given. Glimmer checks her reflection and fixes her braid before arming herself with a bow and quiver of arrows.

"We're going hunting for humans."


	26. Chapter 25: Not Alone

Christina's (Number Ten) POV

I feel like I'm going to vomit. My head is throbbing and my knees feel like jelly. I don't know if I'll be able to stand up on my platform. It takes all my strength to stay standing.

Blake and Sarah are injured and Ella was kidnapped by the Mogs!

I can feel tears rolling down my face as the clock counts down from sixty. I really just want to run now, far away and vomit up everything I just ate. I can't see any of the others around me. I feel so helpless and lost.

I can't help, but cry out in my head. I reach out to John with telepathy.

_The others were attacked and they... They got Ella._

The gong goes off and we're free to run towards the Cornucopia .

I stand on my platform, unsure of what to do now with this new development. I'm worried sick for my boyfriend, the other Garde and my little sister. That's at least how I see her and I know the others do too.

Annie's voice comes into my head for the first time in a long time.

_My advice would be to grab and go, instead of making yourself an easy target. You can't die here!_

I jump off my platform and run for the nearest pile of supplies. I grab a bag and run for the woods. I guess the Careers are too busy attacking the others to notice me make my escape. I hike up the nearest hill and put as much distance between me and the Cornucopia that I can. I only stop once to rest a bit before moving on.

While walking, my head is a whirlwind of emotion and desperation. The Mogs have made their move and now Ella is paying for it. The others couldn't protect her and neither can we. Who knows what he'll do to her? If she is his heir, at least she won't be killed.

Again my stomach twists when I remember the vision Ella was having.

I walk until I come to the a large lake that sits between me and the Careers. I realize that I wasn't putting much distance between myself and the others after all. I basically walked the circumference of the lake. I can see the shine from the horn from where I'm standing. I guess it's better to be closer in case something else happens. I fill my bottle with water and shift around the lake quietly towards a large cliff side that towers over the lake. There is a small waterfall that trickles from what I suspect is the river. I briefly stop to admire its beauty before I notice a large darkened area behind it.

I carefully maneuver behind the falling water and the slippery rocks. I don't care if I get soaked right now, I may have just found shelter. I climb over a small area and I find myself in a shallow cave, carved in the side of this cliff. It is damp and small, but it just might help. Plus it's close to water so it's an added bonus.

I shift through some of the rocks to make a more room. I place my pack down and go through the contents. To my great joy, I have a flashlight! I turn it on and face if upward to give me some overhead light. I sort through everything else.

Some food, a tarp, rope, my bottle, compass and a small dagger.

I guess it's good enough for now, that is until I can get to the others.

I start thinking about if this could be a good base camp for us. Six could make it bigger and it is hard to trace. This could be perfect for us.

I lay out the tarp and lug a rock over to prop up myself up. I eat a tiny bit of food as I am still sick about Ella.

I try closing my eyes and concentrating on my breathing. I'm hoping that I can contact Ella or someone on the outside. I know the vision came from Ra just as I was about to enter the games to scare me out of my wits and make me an easy target for the others. Ra knew that I would tell the others, when and if we meet up. He also knew that there was no way that we could save her, most likely what he had planned all along.

I relax and shut my eyes, pulling myself into the lotus position. I enter a similar blackness that is all too familiar.

"Ella!" I call into the darkness. "Ella!"

My voice seems to echo into nothing.

_Ella please talk to me!_ I beg using my telepathy.

I want to see the light again. I want to find her and tell her that we're coming to get her...

"ELLA!"

Nothing at all.

I spend what feels like hours meditating, trying to talk to someone, anyone at all. Find Ella or the others, make sure they are okay...But nothing.

I re-awaken my mind I wipe the sweat from my brow. I'm dizzy and sick now. I go out to the waterfall and scoop some water in my mouth. I slowly slide out from behind the wall of water and take in my surroundings. It's almost nightfall, with the sun fading on the tree line. I can't help but feel slightly at peace, gazing at this sight. I pull my boots off and stick my feet in the cool water. I start to wish that I could just get in and swim, like I used to do when I was young. Annie would watch me for hours on the beach, jumping into the waves and bobbing up and down. Even at swimming pools, I'd be the water bug and play games with anyone I could. I start to long for those times again.

I start kicking the water gently, wading and looking at my reflection. I look so different, my forehead creased with worried lines and my face hasn't lit up with a smile in a long time. Why should it? I've seen too much darkness and misery. I have no reason to think of anything bright or happy. I do try and smile, lifting the corners of my face up to create a grin, but it looks so fake that I stop.

I watch the moon rise slowly over the trees, illuminating the water beneath my feet. I wonder if the others can see this moon too? Would they know that I was thinking about them? that I want to find them?

I suddenly have the feeling that someone is watching me.

I look up and see a girl with long fiery red hair leaning over the lake, cupping water in her hands into her mouth. She looks real nervous and rather twitchy in her movements. Her hair is pulled into a double bun and she carries a small backpack with her.

She continues to sip water until she sees the sun is starting to set. She stands up to leave and that is when she catches my stare.

I can't help but feel nervous for her and I worry that she might run away or come over to kill me. I re-think the last part and decide that she's not the killing type. Plus if she's is alone, her key goal is to survive, not fight.

Our eyes meet for a few moments, her bright blue eyes staring in at me, as if she can read my thoughts.

I lift my hand up in subtle waving motion. She flinches and looks ready to leave, but she doesn't. Our eyes remain locked as we stand on opposite sides of this vast lake, literally a world away. She can see that I'm unarmed and simply sitting by the lake.

I take a simple risk, using my mind to reach out to her.

_Are you as scared as I am?_ I ask her.

I can see that she's surprised and she flinches slightly at hearing my voice in her head. I'm afraid that this might scare her off, but our eyes remain locked together.

_It's okay..._ I think calmly. _I don't want to hurt you either._

The girl's head turns to the side as if curious and yet confused. Her thoughts are muddled and quiet, matching her disposition. Her name is Finch and she's my brother's district partner. She prefers to be alone and she hates the Games as much as anyone does.

_These games are messed up aren't they?_ I ask her.

Again her head tilts, but then she nods slightly.

_We know what we're up against._ I tell her. _But I still plan to walk out of here alive_.

I can see her eyes roll, breaking our line of vision. She's sure that everyone says that to help them sleep at night.

_The only difference is... _I say to her. _We're stronger than you think_

I grab the small blade from my belt and become shiny. The moon's rays reflect off of me and I look like a piece of a trophy or even a disco ball.

The girl stumbles back a bit, understandably surprised, but at the same time fascinated.

_What are you?!_ she asks me, her shadowed face in awe. _What can you do?_

I look at her and smile, steel lips coming together.

_We're here to help you and the others get out. You're not alone in hating the Capitol_

We suddenly hear a blood curdling scream that interrupts the connection. We both flinch and look towards where the sound was heard. A canon blast is heard.

I look back at Finch and I can see the terror in her eyes.

_Go!_ I say anxiously. _Hide! We'll find you when the time comes to escape_

_But How will I know?_ she asks.

_You'll know._ I nod with confidence. _Just remember you're not alone in this..._

Finch stares at me for a long moment before she waves a little bit and then vanishes into the thicket. I also make myself scarce in case the hunters who killed the girl are looking for more victims.

I go back in and turn my flashlight off. I curl up under the tarp and try to think peaceful thoughts. I have a small comfort to know that I know we may have some allies in the future. Finch is stealthy and smart, we could use a girl like her on our team.

The next day passes without incident. I find some berries not to far from the lake to eat that fill me and I eat some of the food I was given. I decide for now that I'll take a day off to prepare for the next day...Track the Garde.

I hear a scream that awakens me from my sleep the next morning and I realize that it's coming from the forest. I slip out from behind the curtains of the water fall and go towards the berry bush. I can feel the heat of the sun baking down on me as I gather some more berries to eat.

Suddenly I smell smoke from a campfire and it's awfully close. I start to think some other tribute must be really close by. I look up at me and I see a wall of fire coming towards me!


	27. Chapter 26: The World is on Fire

Number Three's POV

A gong signals our freedom...Or rather our death.

I feel that I'm taking a leap off a cliff, right into the raging waters of the Cornucopia. Let the death games begin. I remember what Christina and John said about trying not to get in the middle of the bloodbath. I see Nine beat everyone else and then bolt for the woods. Six was on the adjacent platform and she vanishes as soon as she gets the chance.

I'm reluctant to do anything. I stare at the blurring figures of the other tributes and my eyes catch the long strawberry blond hair of Glimmer. My heart stops when I see her going after another tribute, viciously, a look of anger creases her forehead. The Glimmer I see is not who I liked...she's a monster, she's a killer... She's a...

Career...

I pull myself back to reality, long enough to realize that I'm a sitting duck if I don't move. I run to the nearest pile of supplies, grab a bag and run. My heart is beating against my chest, empowering me to push on, despite my desire to turn around and grab Glimmer and shake her, telling her she's becoming a monster.

Maybe she was already a monster...a side you could not see...

I shake the thought from my head as I go as far that I can into the forest. I hear two cannon blasts, indicating the death of two tributes. Part of me knows that it wasn't any of the Garde or Glimmer.

I hike up out of a ravine and continue on my way. I have no idea where I'm going, I'm walking without any purpose. The entire time I think about Glimmer. I wonder what she's doing now and whether she was one of the Careers that killed the two tributes at the Cornucopia. The thought makes me sick to my stomach. The beautiful and bubbly girl I had talked to, kissed and gave my heart to...turned into a... savage killer within 60 seconds.

I'm sweating buckets and I take a look at the position of sun. I've made considerable distance since being at the Cornucopia and it is now late afternoon. I know I'm going to have to stop and re-hydrate soon. But this is nothing for me, I can hike almost 15 miles in one day. I know I have a distinct advantage over everyone else in this arena. Like I've said before, I lived in the wild for almost three years, always on the run from the Mogs. I learned how to cover my tracks, make smokeless fires, how to hunt and find food, clean animals properly and cook them properly.

I'm so lost in my thoughts that I don't see the sun setting. I suddenly hear some strange humming sound. I turn around expecting some kind of mechanical device to be hovering over me, maybe a camera to get my good side... if I had one. I search, but there's nothing. I start to hike, but something tells me to stop. I guess its my intuition or whatever gives me those weird dreams. I somehow know if I go any further, something bad is going to happen.

I stare in front of me. Everything seems normal. Just more trees. I'm missing something. I take a stone from the ground and pitch it in front of me. I expect it to just disappear between the trees, but something else happened. The stone hits something solid, makes a mechanical sizzling sound and comes right back at me. I duck just in time to avoid getting hit in the face. The stone rolls to me. It's been scorched and is now smoking on the grass.

"What the hell?" I say to myself.

It takes me a minute to realize what happened. I hadn't realized it, but I've made it to the edge of the arena. The boundary that keeps us from escaping the Games and running off into the horizon to be free of the Capitol's wrath and tyranny.

I pick up another stone and throw again. The stone comes flying back, sizzled and burnt. I'm glad I listen to my intuition or I most likely have been fried like a piece of bacon. I decide that this will be useful in the long run. If we're all going to escape the arena, we need to know how big it is and if we can find a weak spot. We're not really sure how we'll penetrate this formidable barrier, but we will escape...we have to.

I decide to make camp here, I'm very dehydrated and rest is what I will need. I sort through my belongings in the backpack. Bottle, matches, rope, first aid kit, knife and some kind of handheld device. It has two buttons. Curiosity gets the best of me and I press the first button. A high pitch frequency hits my ears. It's so painful that I drop the device instantly to cover my ears. I see that several birds take flight to escape the noise. I frantically search for the device and shut it off.

"What the hell?" I say. "How is that useful?"

I stash the useless thing back in the bag. I go on a hunt for water, staying at least some distance away from the force field that separates us from the "real world."

I find a little bit of water, a little bit from some moss on the tree. It's not really enough to fill my bottle, but it quenches my thirst, at least to allow me to sleep in comfort. I climb a nearby tree and settle in for the night. I watch the faces of the fallen tributes stare down at me from the sky. I lay back and my mind goes to Glimmer. Her beautiful green eyes and rosy cheeks that were always smiling, at least most of the time... The image of her angry and evil face keeps intruding into my subconscious, the motion of her striking, bringing her hand down on another soul, intent on taking her life. I shudder and pull my hood up over my head. I try to sleep, but I can't help in crying a little bit. I cry myself to sleep.

The next day I go hiking, trying to cover as much of the perimeter of the arena that I can. I do find a small pond to fill my water bottle and make me feel hydrated. I don't eat anything because my stomach is still twisted over...her.

I don't do too much during the day because I'm not really sure what the Garde had planned. We were supposed to find allies and each other. The problem is... the arena is so large, the Garde could be anywhere. It feels a lot like when we first came to Earth, separated for what seemed like forever. It was supposed to make sure the Charm that had been cast on us stayed in effect. The problem was the charm broke when we came together and that was when John and Six met up months ago. I didn't realize it until I got attacked by a Mog scout while swiping some food in a Kenya market. He stabbed me in the thigh and for the first time in long time it hurt like hell. For the longest time, whenever I was attacked, any damage they did to me was put on them, but this time I was hurt and bleeding. I managed to kill the scout, but I ended up going to the hospital. The minute I was well enough to travel, I ran away, knowing that I was no longer safe from attack. I stayed in hiding in the forests until some vision told me where to find the Garde.

I wake up the next morning in a willow tree, a slight breeze causing the leaves to ruffle slightly, making me shudder slightly. I pull my hood down and greet the early morning gloom. I stretch out and climb down to seize the early light to cover more ground and possible find the Garde. My stomach growls in protest. I've put off food for almost two days now, I decide to eat a little bit, the last thing I want to happen is to starve to death...then again that would explain why these are the "Hunger Games."

I take advantage of the early hours to set up a snare, but also make a spear out of a long stick and the knife. I manage to get a squirrel and raccoon, probably about to go back to sleep for the day and it didn't know what hit it. I cook the meat over a small smokeless fire and dig in ravenously. My stomach had been growling all night, causing severe discomfort for me. I drink plenty of water and decide to do some tracking. The Garde will need me sooner rather than later.

I keep close to the edge of the force field, thinking that the perimeter gives me my best chance in finding the others. Once in a while, I toss stones against the field, frying them and letting me know where exactly the force of energy is.

I begin to smell something... Something...unusual. At first I think it's the stones that I've thrown against the field. But gradually the scent becomes stronger. My heart begins pounding, thinking I've found someone and they are having a big camp fire. This seems stupid, an obvious way to get tracked down and killed.

I keep pushing on, the heat of the son baking down on me. I begin sweating buckets, I wipe my brow and slow down a bit to conserve my energy. Even trekking a few miles slowly, the heat is intensifying.

I look up and my eyes go wide. The entire side of the force field is up in flames, and something tells me that it was no accident.

"Oh Geeze!" I yell and begin running.

The heat is intense and getting worse. Anything that is living doesn't stand a chance against this blazing inferno. I'm pushing myself, I need to run the fastest I possibly can, but the flames keep right on up there with me. At one point, I swear I'm running with the flames.

I hear a scream further on from my position, towards the west I think. The Game makers must want some action from us so they created this gigantic wall of fire to smoke us out, pun intended.

My heart is pounding in my chest, threatening to burst through my rib cage. Sweat is pouring off of me in steady streams. My eyes are tearing up and my lungs are burning from inhaling the smoke. I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep running like this. Sure I'm stronger than the average human, but extenuating circumstances such as walls of fire tend to slow the ability.

I sort of picture this as the time Kali was killed and I was forced to run away into the Kenyan jungle. I was almost caught, nearly sliced to oblivion, but managed thanks to my speed and knowledge of the wild. I used the jungle as my cover and was able to squeeze into an impossible area, that the Mogs couldn't track or reach. I barely escaped with my life, but I don't plan to die here in the middle of an arena of death games.

That sixth sense comes over again and I stop, inches from a cliff over looking a raging river. I stand for a second, wondering which would be a worse way to possibly die, but water beats fire no matter what.

I jump for the water, bracing myself for impact with the surface.

The cold water reaches me and I go into shock. The sudden temperature change causes my body to contort a bit. I can feel icy cold water trying to reach my lungs, but I can't get to the surface. The raging rapids begin to push me further along, pushing me further under, unable to get up for air. My shock may be brief, but it could very well kill me. I thrust my hand upwards, trying to break the surface or try to grab something, anything.

My lungs are burning worse than before and I'm blinded by the white capped rapids. I fight with every fiber in my body to break the surface. This is not how I pictured dying in the war. If I did die at all, it would've been in a heroic way, maybe giving my life for someone I cared about. I didn't plan to be killed, not by nature. I start feeling myself lose consciousness, running low on air and strength, for some reason I'm not scared anymore. If I die, I get to see Kali again, maybe discover the purpose of our mission to Earth by the deceased Elders. I get to see my grandparents and parents, whom I never met...

My hand catches something. I can't tell what it is, but it feels human. The softness of the skin and the length of the fingers that grab a hold of me. Pulling me upwards with what strength this person has, I feel a cold rush of air. I want to breath in but I know I'll drown myself further. With all my strength I force any water from my body outwards. A stream of it comes from my nose and mouth and I take in a deep breath.

My consciousness comes back a little bit, enough for me to try and gold onto this hand that is saving me. I clamp my hands tightly around the wrist of the arm and try to find some kind of footing, anything to help this person pull me up out of the water. I manage to grab a slimy rock and find some grip on it. I try pushing upwards, trying to get some kind of further grip. I can hardly see who's helping me, but I manage to see a flash of orange in the sunlight. This person is putting all their strength into helping me, one hand on mine and another on my jacket. My hand manages to find dry land and I pull up against the rapids. I feel as if it's me against the world, with the weight of the world added to it.

I use the last bit of strength I have to pull my body halfway out of the water, enough for the person to grab my backpack and pull me fully from the river.

I lay back in exhaustion, surely escaped death by an inch. I shut my eyes and take in deep breaths, expelling any excess water. I can feel that I'm against a rocky surface, it feels almost like the cliff side I climbed a couple days ago. I trace the hard rock with my finger to make sure it's solid.

My heart is pounding and my ears are ringing like crazy. I take another deep breath and roll onto my side. I'm aching all over, probably from the lack of oxygen. I'm also lying on my backpack, which amazingly did not fall off of me in the chaos.

I finally open my eyes, I'm expecting to find one of the Garde there who found me or my fantasy that it was Glimmer who saved me.

It's none of the above. Whoever saved me is gone...saved me and left...like some kind of ghost. I'm surprised this person even went forward with the effort to save me. He or she could've let me drown, but instead took the time to save me.

I'm so confused and upset that I never got to thank them that I don't notice that night is coming.

I finally manage to move myself up the bank, the heavy weight of my clothing make my movements sluggish. I pull myself far enough up to hit the trees for cover and I lean on a tree and try to relax.

I manage to take off my backpack and sort through the soaked contents. The matches are useless now so I toss them in the river. I empty water out of the first aid kit and pray that the knife isn't rusted. The electronic thing I got doesn't seem to be working any more, but it wasn't worth anything in the first place. I let everything else dry in the fading son as I lay back and shut my eyes. I don't feel like moving to get anything to eat, the river has drained most of my strength. I figure I'm safe for now, despite how vulnerable I may seem. I decide rest is what I need to recover and in the morning I'll go back to finding the Garde.

As I lay back and try to sleep, I think about who might've saved me. Whoever they were, they weren't a Career, nor a Garde because they would've stuck around, but a tribute that I did not not know, who thought is was better to save me that let me drown. Maybe they couldn't live with themselves if they let me die, knowing full well they could save me. I guess there is real good in this society, it just takes awhile for it to be unearthed.

I curl up into a ball at the base of the tree and tune everything else out so I can fall asleep...

...

I hear a scream echo through the woods. At first I'm still half asleep, thinking that maybe it was part of my dream, but then they get more frequent and now there is more than one person yelling for help. There yells of pain are followed by a large humming sound. I know for a fact that it's real and I jolt upwards from the grass bed I was sleeping on and am on full alert.

There's more screaming and crying now, it's as if this person is being tortured and the humming gets louder. I grab my stuff and scramble backwards into the trees, thinking this is another Gamemakers method of tormenting us and from whoever is screaming, it sure is working.

My heart is pounding like crazy as the screams grow less and less, it means that this person is dying or escaping...most likely the first one.

It's painful to hear that this might be someone's last moments, but in the flurry of the screams I hear her beg out to whatever she thinks could save her.

"Please... Ash!"

My heart drops immediately when I recognize the voice.

It's Glimmer!


	28. Chapter 27: Swarm

Marina's (Number Seven) POV

I awaken to Six nudging me with her foot.

"Your turn." she whispers. She's hanging on a higher branch and gives me a small smile before climbing up to sleep.

I moan and stretch my limbs out. I wasn't really dreaming about anything, but trying to forget about the situation we're in. We're scattered in the death games, waiting prey for the Gamemakers and the Careers to come and kill us. It's what Ra had planned all along and as long as him and Snow are working together, we're sitting ducks. Everything is in their control...almost everything.

I hop down from the tree, my night vision taking over easily. I start weaving through the trees, bored and still exhausted. All the info from Ella has caused me to worry non-stop and it's starting to take its toll. She is like my little sister and we promised that we'd always have each other's back. And here I am, trapped like a bug in a glass jar while she's stuck in some kind of hellish nightmare, one where we're all dead.

I wipe a few tears from my eye and check the snare that John set up before night came. Nothing and I can hear my stomach growling slightly. We didn't eat much of out rations, but my body is used to more food for energy. A lack of energy weakens our strength and in turn our legacies.

I start trekking along, hoping I might be able to find a berry bush or something that we can eat from with no avail. The edible plants station was not my strong suit. I hike as quietly as I can through more brush and around trees, not really caring where I end up as long as I don't run into anyone else.

Its about an hour or so when I start to see a break in the trees. I at first think it's the lake I saw at the start of the Games, but I see some kind of object sticking out beyond the trees.

I realize that I've made it to the Cornucopia. There's no fire or anything. I can see some sort of base camp with objects piled high. I know immediately that the Careers have set up shop here and all that supplies is unguarded. There's no one around at all, which tells me that they are also hunting by night, maybe more than animals.

I scan the surrounding area, no one is around, camp is unguarded and the perfect time for me to strike.

I start going towards the pile, slowly and closer to the ground. I know in the open area I'm a sitting duck, so I pick up the pace. By the time I reach the pile, my stomach is growling in anticipation.

I unzip my backpack and begin looking for packages of food. I want to take entire containers of food, but if the Careers find out, something worse could happen. So I end up limiting myself to what can fit in the bag. I find a bag of apples and slip a few in. I find some wrapped packages and slip them in there as well.

I go around making sure that the supplies looks untouched for the most part.

Once I've filled the bag up to its maximum I see the sun starting to rise. The tiniest sliver of daylight can be seen in the sky. I know the Careers will be back soon, so I turn to go. At the last minute, my foot brushes by something. I look down and see a weapon, some kind of curved tool. Not knowing what it is, but thinking it could be useful, I snatch it and run. I just make it to the trees when I start to hear voices coming in the distance. I'm so relieved and start back towards the camp when one voice stands out to me. It sounds...really familiar.

I take a position behind a tree and stare across at the group emerging from the forest. I can pick out Cato, Sparkle girl...whoever Three likes, a girl from some other district, a blonde guy, Clove and...

My eyes go wide and I put my hand over mouth.

"Treacherous bastard" I hiss under my breath in anger.

Why am I even surprised? He's done it before, why would now be any different? Of course he picks the side over his species and his own sister. I can't say I'm not totally shocked or really care...but I think of Christina. She loves her brother, despite the things he's done in the past and she trusts him. This kind of realization will crush her. I assume this means that he's out of the war that's coming and such. If he does become the enemy, he's a tough one to beat.

I turn my back and slip into the woods. I start trekking back, listening for John and Six's voices. I eventually find our snare and find a squirrel on it. I reset it and follow a well trodden path back.

John and Six are sitting under the tree talking. When they see me, John appears relieved and Six smiles.

"Where have you been?" Six asks.

"I went on a a little hike." I say, holding up the squirrel. I drop my backpack in front of them and unzip it.

"Holy crap!" John says, searching through the food.

"The Careers left their supplies pretty much unguarded for a long period of time" I explain.

John unwraps a sandwich and digs ravenously into it. Six goes for some dried fruit and I take a sandwich. My stomach no longer growls, thanking me for feeding it. We sit under the tree and eat in silence for awhile, sharing sips of water and eating what we can.

"Do you think they'll notice all this stuff's gone?" Six asks.

"Unlikely," I answer. "I only took a little bit over everything. Not a lot so they won't notice the difference and if they do...they'll probably think one of the others did it."

"Good plan." John says. I can tell he wants another sandwich, but we still need to ration it. I really want another too, but for the sake of survival.

I re-zip my bag to put any temptation out of our minds. John climbs the tree and brings down the rest of the stuff. We re-pack and prepare to move.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Find the Garde." John answers. "And hopefully the edge of the arena."

The next few hours we hike in silence, trying to find the others. I really wish Christina would use her telepathy and make all this hiking moot. She's the only one who can give an update on Ella, being connected in the mind and everything.

Six goes ahead in invisibility mode and she'll whistle if she sees anything up ahead.

By high noon, we're sweating and uncomfortable. We stop for a break. I shed my jacket and lie against a log, to cool off.

"Hey Marina," John says, "You think you could...?"

"Sure" I say.

I concentrate and create and aura of cold around us. We all sigh in relief, happy not to be over heated. It's like free air conditioning. I know I can't go too crazy, I stop when we can start seeing our breaths.

We lay there for quite sometime, bathing in the sun that comes through the trees and basking in the cold air. I guess once in a while

...

We sit down for a rest

I suddenly smell something funny.

"What is that?" I ask, sniffing the air.

John and Six take a whiff too.

"Yeah! Smells like a campfire." Six says.

"Must be closer than we think?" John says. "Usually a fire is a death wish of being discovered."

We hear a few snaps that often come from fire pits. The smell gets stronger as the minutes pass.

Eventually it gets so bad, it burns my nose.

I let out a cough. Six decides to get up to move.

She stops as she goes behind a large tree.

"What is it?" I ask.

Six doesn't answer she just runs past to grab her bag. She grabs my arm and drags me along. She's really strong and it starts to hurt.

"Six what...?"

A single word escapes her lips.

"Run"

At first I'm confused and so is John trailing behind us with the rest of the supplies. The smell of something burning is extremely strong now and it's a lot warmer.

Suddenly, bright light comes out of nowhere and Six shoves me out of the way and dives to the ground. I turn my head to see where it came from, my heart stops.

A massive wall of fire is consuming everything in its path, moving at a speed that is unnatural and not worth hanging around for.

"RUN!" John yells over the roar of the flames.

Fireballs go whizzing past my head and I run. I worry for Six more than John, being fireproof and all. I start pushing my speed so I can out run it, I can feel the combustion against my neck and it could be blistering it by the sheer intensity of the heat.

I suddenly hear a whooshing noise I know it's a fire ball. I dive down, watching the fireball hit a log in front of me. Despite the heat, I have to keep going, knowing the next spot will be where I am. I keep going, pushing my speed as hard as I can. One fireball whizzes by my head, missing my ear by an inch.

I'm sweating buckets by now and running in no particular direction, just away form the inferno. Once or twice I can practically feel the flames licking at my heels and the edges of my hair.

I suddenly to the edge of the lake and without hesitation I dive in. I swim to the bottom, letting my underwater breathing take over. I can see the glowing ambiance from the flames as they stop at the water, its greatest enemy.

I laugh slightly, letting the bubbles float upwards. I can feel my backpack resisting against me, not used to the pressure. It still has all the food inside and hopefully isn't too spoiled. My clothes are soaked to the bone, but right now I couldn't care less from having escaped a burning hot death.

I begin to create a sheet of ice around me, like a cocoon or shell to cool off my skin. I let the water tickle my lungs a bit and I relax in my ball of ice. I suddenly realize how exhausted I am. My body starts to tingle and I decide a few minutes underwater to rest won't hurt. It's honestly the last place someone would look for me, so I can sleep in peace. I curl up, using the backpack as a pillow.

I put everything out of my mind and settle down to rest.

...

I awaken when daylight is coming. I realize that my nap lasted all night! I'm stiff from the position I'm in and no doubt most of the food is ruined. I start breaking the surface of the ice and go swimming upwards.

My head pokes out of the water, breathing in air. I've really tested my underwater legacy and it didn't let me down. I swim to the side and pull myself out. I start wringing out my clothes when I hear something behind me. I turn quickly, the temperature dropping and hands raised for anyone or anything.

Then I hear a voice.

"Marina?"

"John?" I ask. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," I comes out from behind a tree, looking tired and singed.

I run over and hug him. He reeks of smoke and his face is covered in ash.

"Is Six with you?" I ask.

"No, I lost her in the chaos." John says going to the edge of the lake to drink and wash his face. "What happened to you?"

"If you can't tell, I've actually been living in the lake for the past few hours." I explain. "I figured it was the best way to escape from fire."

"It was a good idea..." he pauses. "Is there any food?"

"I think so, but some of it might be spoiled being under water... Where's your stuff?"

"The bag is gone, destroyed in the fire the only things I could get was the gun, the knife and the bottle for water." He looks up at me. "I'm glad you escaped with the food."

"So am I." I say.

I open the bag and pull out some apples. We both devour them quickly and in silence.

We watch as the sun starts to rise over the trees. I wring out my jacket and boots, hopping that they won't shrink or anything from the long exposure to water.

Suddenly a piercing shriek echos though the woods. It's shrill. It's followed by a loud buzzing...really loud. John and I are immediately on our feet. We're not sure what we might face, but it could be one of the others in trouble.

We start running towards the sounds, easy to do since they're so loud. We hear other screams and yelling over the constant buzzing which we know are bees or wasps. We assume this is another Game makers attack, with some kind of insects.

We get closer until we can see the chaos in the distance. It was a pack of Careers who had treed another tribute but they were fleeing because of these insects, at least were trying to. The girl with strawberry blonde hair is the one screaming. The insects are stinging her and she's trapped, unable to go anywhere. Her so called allies have fled leaving her to die.

John and I are reluctant to go forward, clearly these insects are dangerous and possibly deadly. I create an aura of cold around us, knowing that any insects will not come near frigid temperatures. We get a little closer and we see some girl with a braid run off in some woozy fashion, carrying a silver weapon.

We see that there is another girl who was attacked by the bees or wasps or whatever they are. They look completely grotesque, purple welts swelling to the size of golf balls. Both are wheezing slightly, but the insects have taken off in pursuit of the other Careers. Part of me hopes that Five got a few stings in.

John impulsively runs to the further girl and I realize that it is his district partner. This leaves me with the other girl.

I'm still reluctant to help the Careers at all...They are killers and wouldn't help us in the slightest, they are like Five, pure evil...

At the same time, I could never forgive myself if I let someone die and I could've done something. I watch for a little bit longer from a weary distance, keeping the cold around me, apparently these insects won't attack if I have a cold aura around me.

I watch as this girl screams in agony as the insects continue to surround her, stinging in every place they can manage and she's basically trapped. Her skin develops welts and swells to an unimaginable size. The other girl from John's district is also being stung, but she doesn't have much time left either.

John and I nod and once the insects have fled after the other Careers, John and I leap into action. John takes the girl from his district and I'll try to save

The girl is barely breathing at all, her chest rising a falling lightly. Her face is swollen and purple that she's practically unidentifiable by the time I get to her. Her hands are swollen stiff that they are like sausages. She does look close to death, her eyes glazed over and frozen, fighting to stay open from the swollen skin. It's so bad, I can hardly look at her. I place my hands on her body and begin to heal.

It doesn't take long for me to realize that this will be the hardest healing I've ever done. I've never experienced wounds like hers before and they fight stubbornly against the icy cold spreading from my spine to this girl. I put all my strength into it, straining my body in the process. I think of Three and how this girl means the world to him. She was the first girl he kissed and had real feelings for. Despite my objections to her being a career, I could never forgive myself if I didn't try to save her...for Three.

I push all the energy I have into healing her. Slowly, but surely the welts begin to lose colour and the stingers from these insects push their way back up to the surface and fall off. Her breathing gets stronger, first it's wheezing and shallow, but her glazed eyes blink more frequently and her breaths become stronger.

Soon all the welts are gone and the girl looks fairly normal again. Her green eyes lock onto mine. Her face seems grateful, a small smile spreads on her face, happy to be alive, but it suddenly turns to one of confusion and fear. She pushes against me and frantically searches for a weapon. I assume she thinks I'm going to kill her.

"Where's my bow?" she screams in horror. She gets to her feet and continues to back away from me. I don't say anything, what can I say? I just used alien powers to save her life, how does one respond to that?

I assume her reaction is justified, but that soon ends when she starts crying. She finds some stones against a tree trunk and begins hurling them at me.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME! You...you...you... freak!"

I easily deflect the stones with my telekinesis, freaking her out further. Her sobbing is overly dramatic and honestly doesn't phase me much. I stand up and she cowers against the tree trunk.

"Please don't hurt me!" she wails in a high pitched voice.

I continue to stare at her, getting annoyed with the drama. I just saved her damn life, the least she could do was say thank you.

She continues to throw stones at me , but I turn and walk towards where John is. He's leaning over his district partner who lays in a pile of dead brush, clearly trying to escape the insects that attacked her.

Despite the other girl's screaming, he remains focused. His hands on this girl's chest, spreading the healing. The welts on her skin shrink and she gasps for breath. Her breathing evens out as John finishes and she opens her eyes.

"John Smith." she gasps in surprise.

"Hey." He says casually. "Long time no see."

"What happened?" she asks, John moving to allow her to get up.

"Wasps." I say in an emotionless voice. "Mutated wasps."

"How did I..."

"We saved you." John says gently.

"How..."

"We're aliens." I say, deciding to get it out in the open.

I wait for her to freak out like Sparkle girl over there, but her face face goes quiet for a few moments as she processes the information. Her head cocks to the side as she looks at us and then shrugs. She looks up at John.

"I knew there was something weird about you."

John smiles and helps her to her feet.

"What now?" I ask, scanning the surrounding area.

"We find Six and the others." John answers.

"What about Scream Queen over there?" I ask.

"She can come if she wants." John says, not exactly thrilled with having a Career join us. His partner is a Career, but he actually knows her and she trusts him...maybe a little bit more in her mind. Plus she owes us for saving her life so she's okay to join us.

The girl doesn't seem to ask very many questions, assuming the fact that she discovered she's surrounded by aliens. She picks up a set of blades, something she must have been carrying when they were attacked.

"Mind if I join you?" she asks, her confidence level increasing in a matter of seconds.

"Sure..." John says.

"Why do you want to?" I ask in a low voice, still suspicious of her turning on us.

"Clearly you guys can't be beaten easily and you already have some sort of plan. A plan that involves saving everyone..."

"We're building something." I say. "Something that we want to take to the Capitol."

Her eyes grow wide in excitement.

"Count me in Hell yeah!" she says with excitement.

She grabs her knife and twirls it around her finger.

"I'm Daniela" she says. "Most people call me Dani."

"Welcome to the alliance Dani." John smiles.

We look back to where the other girl was, but she has fled into the forest. I can't say I'm not surprised at this point, she was never on the list of allies anyways. If she runs off and gets herself killed, it's no longer our problem. She'll probably starve to death before she can do any actual killing.

We do however, have someone we can trust for the most part... I'm still reluctant, but John seems to trust her.

"I suggest we start walking." I say. "We don't know if those...things will come back."

"They're tracker jackers." Dani explains. "They're like wasps only genetically altered to cause excruciating pain, hallucinations and extreme cases...death. The visions are like a bad LSD trip."

"Well let's avoid them if we can." John says.

I start walking on into the trees. John and Dani follow close behind as we start our search for the others.


	29. Chapter 28: Family Ties

Number Five's POV

Clove nudges me awake. I'm exhausted from last night's hunting trip and we managed to kill one girl, but that was it. We're still on the look out for Katniss, the threat. I honestly don't understand what the big deal is about her... but it's more Cato's issue than mine.

I roll over and whack my head against the metal of the Cornucopia. Clove laughs a bit as I stretch out and get to my feet. The sun is now high in the sky and the day already warmed up.

Cato and Marvel are practicing combat skills on each other out of boredom. Peeta sits on a crate nearby looking into the forest and Glimmer and Dani, the girl from District 4 sit talking inspecting the bows and arrows from the weapons pile.

I go for an apple and toss one to Clove. She eats it with me and smiles between bites.

"So what do we do now?" I say breaking the slight peace that surrounds us.

Cato lunges at Marvel with his sword before answering.

"We go back out." he says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why can't we just take the day off?" I ask. "They're more vulnerable at night anyways."

Cato stops to look at me. The crazed aggression is back and I'm waiting for him to pounce on me, except he doesn't.

"Because..." he huffs. "We have to give the people what they want. Give them some action, otherwise the Game Makers will be throwing stuff as us."

"What kind of things?" I inquire.

"Killer birds, hell hounds, Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tidal waves, poisonous . Don't you ever watch Game re-runs?"

"No...Can't" I say, pointing to the patch as if it is so obvious.

"I saw one game where they released toxic fog that killed you instantly when inhaled." Marvel says.

Glimmer pipes up. "I saw a jungle arena where the vines came alive like snakes and strangle you."

"Last years Desert one where the buzzards don't attack the dead, but the living." Dani chimes in.

"My favourite was the snow stadium a couple years back where the snowflakes were made of razors or glass of something that blinded them and enough cuts could kill you." Cato sighs as if this was a day dream of his. From what I've seen, I wouldn't be surprised.

The others nod in recognition, I just stay quite. These things are quite disturbing...what these people watch on TV are real humans dying instead of the exaggerations and theatricality that are on TV across the rest of the world with actors and fake blood. This stuff is very real and I swallow hard. it dawns on me that we're right in the middle of a sick President's board game. I try not to shudder.

I go back to the food supply and slip out a few crackers.

Clove breaks the silence.

"I'm bored, I want to go kill something." she says. She twirls several knives in her hands

I practically choke on the crackers I surprise.

"Whether it's human or animals, I want some action."

"I agree." says Glimmer. "And who knows...we might get lucky." I see an evil smile spread across her face.

"Okay." Cato says "Let's go." He sheaths his sword and goes digging into the piles of supplies to prepare for the trip.

I get up and grab a bag with the essential food supplies and knives. For good measure, I grab a sword and tuck it into my belt. I watch Clove arrange the assortment of knives in her Games jacket. I'm willing to bet she knows all the names of the knives and which ones are better for distance and which are better for hand-to-hand combat.

"Let's go." Marvel calls.

Clove and I walk next to each other, Cato and Marvel leading, Glimmer and Dani close behind and Peeta bringing up the rear.

We just hike in some random direction, not really caring if we find something or not...at least I don't. I can tell the others are antsy for some action. Cato swats his sword around at trees and any plants within his reach, leaving large slices in the bark or beheading plants. Marvel continues looking upwards at the sky, expecting something to happen, like meteors might start raining down.

We hike for most of the morning and into the afternoon. We stop once to rest against some rocks. That's when I see Clove start throwing knives at something in the tree. I realize she's tormenting a squirrel, throwing knives, hoping to get it by its tail. I can't help but feel slightly angered by this. She's using a dangerous weapon to torment an innocent creature...I realize I'm starting to sound like my sister. I push her and her moral lessons out of my head. Clove takes aim again and flings the knife upwards when a giant fireball hits the knife in mid air, causing it to combine and drop from the air. The hot knife lands within inches of Peeta's foot.

My first assumption is that John has found us and decided to take us out, but then I remember he wouldn't kill anyone who was no related to Mogs...with the exception of Adam. I peer around the tree and my jaw drops in shock.

A giant wall of fire is making it's way toward us. It's way too out of control and deliberate to be an accident. Just then another fire ball comes at me and I duck just in time. I can feel the sparks coming off of it as it collides with the tree behind me, slightly singeing the back of my neck.

"Move!" I yell.

We all start to run in random directions, away from the fire.

I start shoving Clove along ahead of me, trying to shield her as much as possible. Cato and Marvel are leading the charge, until there's a massive explosion in front of them. They go flying on top of Dani and Glimmer either from the blast or from shock. Peeta tries to help Glimmer, but she pulls him down with her. Both girls scream with the sudden weight on them. I have an urge to just grab Clove and run...but I can't, I could never forgive myself if I didn't...despite my track record with my own species. I pull Dani from under Cato and I go to help glimmer when I'm shoved down by some heavy force.

Clove dives on top of me to protect me from another flying fireball. We're all tangled and basically trying to kill each other to escape the fire. We will crush each other if we don't take a moment...the problem is we don't have a moment before we're roasted like turkeys on Thanksgiving.

I decide to use my flight legacy, bring myself upwards to separate and make it easier to untangle from each other. I drag Dani up with me, slowly, just enough to make it seem that I was standing up. Dani is panting. Cato throws Peeta and Glimmer off of him and Clove scrambles to her feet.

We start to run again. The heat is intense and I'm sweating like crazy. The smoke is also weakening us, going into our eyes and lungs. We're in trouble!

We keep running, ducking when fireballs come at us and trying to sideswipe any possible explosions. We have no means for escape other than run away from the flames.

Keep shoving Dani in front of me, keeping her from falling over. An explosion goes off five inches from where Clove is standing. I grab her arm and keep pushing forward... The other males in group struggle to keep up. I duck three times to avoid fireballs.

We stumble into an open clearing in the woods and stop for a moment to breath, thinking we have enough time to do so. We plan to keep running, but the flames seem to stop, as if hitting an invisible wall. They flicker and burn still like some giant oven, but remain in one place. No more fire balls or explosions...We're safe... for now

...

The aftermath of the inferno is slow.

Relieved to be safe I keel over and I hack so hard it's feeling like I'm going to cough up my lungs. Dani is panting like crazy, ash covering her face and part of her coat is singed off. Cato brushes ash from his hair and inspects his knee, which seems to have been burned slightly, exposing the skin under the fabric. Marvel cleans off his weapon and rubs ash from his eyes. Half his face is covered in ash too. Glimmer pulls her hair out and combs through the knots, getting rid of any extra sparks or burned matter. Peeta coughs and checks his forearm which was burned slightly. He pours some water on it to cool the angry flesh. Clove hardly cares about what she looks like, she gargles water and spits it out to remove any smoke and then checks her jacket to make sure all her knives are there.

We walk slowly, coughing frequently to get rid of the smoke in our lungs. We also use some of the water from our supplies to clean out faces a bit.

"You think it was deliberate?" Glimmer asks.

"To liven things up, I guess" Dani says. "We must not be very entertaining right now"

"That means we have to kill something." Clove says.

"Well maybe the girl on fire will show her face." Marvel jokes and Cato snickers.

We start walking, unaware of which direction to go. That is until we hear something. We all go quiet and listen. It sounds like someone was breathing heavily and groaning in pain. We assume that they were wounded in the fire and easy to track.

"Sounds like someone needs to be put out of their misery." Cato grins evilly.

We follow him as he lets some kind of savage killer instinct take over. We weave through the brush and around trees until Cato looks up. Sure enough, Katniss Everwere... or whatever her name is is climbing a large tree. We all gather around the trunk, staring upwards.

"We've treed the Kat" Marvel jokes as all our eyes go upward to where Katniss is climbing. Damn She's fast, but I see some shaking, I assume she was hit by the inferno earlier too. Once she gets up pretty high she stops.

"How's everything with you?"she calls down at us.

Is she serious? I think to myself. She wants to talk?!

Then I remember that this is a TV show and audiences eat crap like this up.

"Well enough," says Cato. "Yourself?"

"It's been a bit warm for my taste," she says. "The air's better up here. Why don't you come on up?"

"Think I will," Cato growls, ready to end the bullshit between them.

"Here, take this, Cato." Glimmer says, offering him her bow.

"No," Cato says. "I'll do better with my sword.

He immediately starts trying to grab for branches and hoist himself up. I can tell his anger is fueling him, but Katniss starts climbing again and makes up pretty high that I know for sure that Cato won't make it. Clove is screaming and encouraging him the whole way and Marvel is cheering him on.

There's a snap that confirms my suspicions and Cato's arms go flailing out as he falls onto his back. I do my best to not laugh as he hits the ground. It could very well kill him, but he's up on his feet again swearing like crazy.

"I'll do it myself." Glimmer hisses. She starts climbing the tree, but soon the branches start to snap under her weight. She actually climbs down instead of trying to go on. She grabs an arrow and clumsily fits it into the bow and fires.

The arrow lands near her, but it obvious that she missed. Katniss grabs the arrow and waves it, teasing us.

"Maybe you should throw the sword?" she says with almost a laugh in her voice.

Cato growls and begins to clench and un-clench his fists repeatedly, trying to keep the anger in check. We re-group and we start talking about ways to bring her down. Marvel suggests he toss the spear at her, but if it gets stuck and she has the advantage up high to try and get us. It's the same thing with Clove's knives. Dani suggests we chop the tree down, but that could take forever. Finally, Peeta speaks up.

"Oh, let her stay up there. It's not like she's going 'll deal with her in the morning." Peeta says.

I can tell Cato's pissed at this suggestion. He wants to kill her so badly. These Games are just fueling Cato's aggression and I'm starting to get really weary of him. He's definitely a psycho path and I really think killing him myself would put everyone's minds at ease.

"Fine." Cato says. "Somebody make a fire."

...

The night is colder as we eat something and establish camp under the tree. Glimmer is giggling at Cato heating up his sword and then spitting on it. Marvel has his hands above his head lying back and looking up at Katniss. Clove is throwing knives at a lizard, basically playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey with it, except it's how many knife holes can I get inside it.

Glimmer is put on guard duty and the rest of us curl up to go to sleep. Except I can't sleep. Sleeping on the ground is not comfortable at all and it's honestly pissing me off. I continue to roll over until I'm so sick I move out from under the shadow of the the tree and start walking.

I sit on a stump and just stare out into the distance. The sounds of the night are all around me. It's just noise to me and it's just annoying me more. It reminds me of the nights on those islands Albert had us on. The only sounds were of nature...and his snoring. For Albert it was peaceful, to me it pushed me to the brink of insanity. The silence would always ring in my ears and I'd have too much time with my thoughts. It's no wonder people don't last long on islands. I've heard that Three lived like this for almost two years and how he kept himself from going bat crap crazy, at least I had Albert to talk to. Those in isolation for too long lose their minds eventually.

"You okay?" I hear behind me.

I turn to see Clove walking towards me.

"Yeah." I shrug.

I can feel her behind me. My heart starts beating quickly as she touches my back. I move over on the stump to let her sit next to me.

"Guess insomnia doesn't just apply to me." she says with a small laugh. She leans her head against my shoulder. I can feel myself flush with warmth and my face burns up with excitement and passion. I find myself reaching over and grabbing her hand. I'm surprised on how comfortable she fits against my body and she feels rather gentle, compared to the hardcore Clove I'm used to.

"Beautiful night huh?" I say, trying to make small talk.

"I guess." she says 're silent for awhile.

"Why can't you sleep?" I ask. "Miss home?"

She doesn't say anything at first, so I take that as a yes.

"You got a family?" I ask quietly.

"Yeah..." she says. "Sort of..."

"Sort of?" I say with confusion.

I can tell she doesn't want to share too much, but I can't help to probe a bit. I want to get to know her a bit better.

She sighs.

I decide to go first.

"I don't have much of a family left either." I say to her gently, which isn't technically true, since I still have Christina, but everyone else in our family is dead. It's bad enough that the invasion happened, practically exterminating our race, but Christina's Cepan wrote a letter explaining to her the family structure back on Lorien. She and I were separated at birth, which posed a problem about who would be the Elder in the family. Since I was born first, it was me and I was given to Albert and Christina was given to her Cepan. I was raised by my dad's parents and Christina by our mom's, but Christina's Cepan described how there was hate and anger towards the Elders and us, that my mom's parents cut us out of their and Christina's lives and how the same thing happened when our baby sister, Anali was born. It's not like we were supposed to see our parents anyways until we were older, but me, my dad and mom were basically dead to my grandparents. I understand that Christina is trying to mend the rift that was created by bonding with me, but I'm not exactly popular with the rest of our species after my betrayal.

"My dad was executed by Peacekeepers for some reason or another..." I pause, knowing how heartless I sound about my dad dying. "People die all the time in the district so it was basically an everyday kill for them. My mom died during childbirth and it also killed my baby sister. Would you believe I'm a twin?"

She looks at me.

"No way?!" she says bewildered.

"Yes I have a twin sister. I'm two minutes older."

"Really." she says quite surprised. "Are you guys close?"

I pause. "We try to be, it's hard to relate to each other sometimes."

"I know how that feels." she mutters and leans into me again.

"My sister and I had to rely on each other for awhile. We lived on the streets for a year until we were taken into a community home. We kind of drifted apart after that. "

"Do you miss her?" Clove asks.

I pause and swallow hard. Do I miss my sister? She is here in the arena with me. She's the only one who's shown me trust and love...since Ethan or even Albert. She does care for me, the way a sister should. I definitely feel protective of her and I do care for her, just not as much as siblings could go.

"Yes..." I say softly. "I miss her. She's the only part of home that I actually liked and cared about. Other than that, it pretty much sucked.

"Home pretty much sucks for me too." she says quietly. "I have three older sisters and two brothers, all prettier and smarter than me. One of my brothers actually won the Hunger Games a few years back so he lives in luxury and my family has been trying to follow his example ever since. We're usually out volunteered by others, so they never really went in anyways. That is until everyone reached eighteen and then it was just me. I volunteered this year and I hope I get everything and more. When I get home they'll have to treat me with respect."

I start to understand Clove's situation. She feels overshadowed by her siblings, which is probably why she is so tough, to prevent herself from being hurt. She just wants people to accept her and treat her the way they should.

"They were top of the academy and in training." Clove continues. "My brothers are Peacekeepers in the Capitol and my sisters are all married to successful Stone masons. My dad was a bricklayer for years and worked from the ground up. He always pushed us to be the best we could be and whether that was in the District or in the Games."

"What about your mom?" I ask.

"She left us for another man. She ended up moving to the Capitol and living the life she always wanted."

I can tell this is hard for her so I let silence go on for as long as she needs. She lays her head back on my shoulder and sighs softly.

We watch the moon rise up over the trees. The night becomes calm and quieter, not annoying me as much since Clove is here. I still can't help but think about how badly our love story might end. It won't matter how close we become, we're still in the death games. I really want to see where this could go...if only I had met her like John met Sarah or Christina and Blake...casually, like in high school. I don't want the sappy romance stuff, but time to get to know Clove instead of through death training. At least, I get to see a softer side of her, a side I like very much.

I squeeze her hand gently and she turns her head to look at me. My heart is going wild and I can't help, but smile. We gaze into each other's eyes.

She leans forward and kisses me. I kiss back, so pleased that we're making the most of what we have. I run my hand through her hair and she grabs my shoulders aggressively. Clove practically jumps on me in passion. I want her now and forever. She and I are perfect.

"Hey you two get a room!" we hear behind us.

We look over at Glimmer who's glaring at us in disgust. I don't know why she's being like that. Christina told me about Three's make out sessions with her.

We separate in slight anger, annoyed we were broken apart. I wanted to go further with Clove. i felt ready. She's the girl I want.

I look at her and she smiles, I can see her flushed a bright shade of pink from the passionate embrace. It looks nice on her. It makes her look more...

"We're not done here." she says quietly. "But let's put it on hold for now... until we can get back to base camp and have some privacy"

I hate Glimmer at that moment, I squeeze my hands into fists, pissed beyond belief. Clove and I were so close! SO close and yet so far.

"Okay." I say through gritted teeth.

She kisses my cheek and then goes back to the fire.

When I'm alone I want to punch something so badly. These feelings are amazing and Glimmer destroyed them. Screw the alliance, I'd kill them all just to have Clove to myself!

I can feel tears coming to my eyes. I'm...

IN LOVE!

I LOVE CLOVE! I want to scream it to the heavens. She's what makes me complete, she's the one. John did say that the Loric only fall in love once and it's forever. Clove is my forever. I want her and I will do whatever it takes, no matter what to be with her. Whether that's kill everyone or join the Garde in an attack against the Capitol. Nothing will stand in my way!

I feel a bit better now, letting all my feelings out and calm enough not to strangle Glimmer when I go back to camp. I get up from the stump, feeling like I'm on Cloud 9 and in the best mood I've been in awhile. I walk back to camp and lay down near Clove. She's asleep and dreaming peacefully. She looks amazing when she's sleeping.

I lay close to Clove and whisper in her ear.

"I love you."

...

Glimmer's scream wakes me up immediately. My eyes fly open and I hardly have time to react, when something stings my arm. The pain shoots up my body There's something buzzing around my head and another sting hits me. I get up and try swatting whatever's getting me. The others are screaming too.

"To the lake!" yells Cato. "To the lake!"

We hardly have a chance to grab our stuff. I push Clove ahead of me and grab the bag when another sting hits my wrist. My eyes are tearing up and my body has little feeling now. Glimmer continues to scream like there's no tomorrow. Dani from District 4 is also struggling to move, but at this point it's every man for himself. I start running away from the swarm, but these bees or whatever are pursuing us. They are pissed and not ready to give up on us.

My head is starting to cloud over and my limbs feel like jelly. Whatever these things do, it's like a bad LSD trip and it's gonna get worse. All the noise is drowned out by the buzzing and it's messing with my head.

The pain is killing me. I continue running after the others, but I turn my skin silver to prevent any more stings. The wasps attack me me but their stingers bounce off, making a distinct *clink* sound. I can almost feel their confusion as their stingers will no longer penetrate skin. I feel great satisfaction and every time I swat my metal hand, killing more of them as I go.

I keep running back towards the Cornucopia and the lake. I know my strength is only going to last so long so I push myself after Clove.

I have to protect her! I think to myself.

We reach the clearing, but the bugs are still in pursuit. I see Cato and Marvel jump into the lake, but Clove doesn't make it. she falls to the ground and I can see the swarm about to descend upon her. I dive forward and put my body on top of hers. I shield her from the coming stings with my metal body. Hoping and praying that the insects give up soon.

The clinking is frequent for long while before the wasps move on. I think they disperse, but by then I can feel my mind going.

I roll off of Clove to prevent me from crushing her, but by then the clouds above me turn orange and begin dumping black ink on us. I struggle to fight, it's so sticky I feel glued to my spot. I watch as it consumes me fully, falling into my mouth, suffocating me and blocking my eye. From there, everything goes black.

...

The next time I wake up, my head is throbbing like crazy. I can also see that I've been crying. Appropriate, since I kept dreaming that Clove died in my arms and crumbled to dust. I saw my sister be torn apart by wild human shaped creatures that wore formal suits, but had no faces and tentacles that reached out from the darkness. Her screams echo in my ears.

I look up and the sun is high in the sky. I sit up and pat the ground, making sure everything is secure. the ground turned into lava multiple times while I was out.

My joints are stiff, indicating it's been awhile a day maybe. I lean over to look at Clove. Her eyes are still shut tight and she's been sweating and crying like me. She seems to be at peace and yet her mouth is formed into a small frown as if in frustration. I reach over and shake her shoulder gently.

"Clove..." I say. "Clove..."

She swats me away and tries to roll over. Clearly the venom hasn't cleared up from her head. I start hobbling to the lake to get some water.

I see Cato and Marvel on the bank, in a similar state. They must have pulled themselves from the lake before the hallucinations took them too.

I shudder when I think about them. I saw the Garde as single eyed zombies ready to eat my flesh and then wasp human hybrids with harpoon size stingers that could spear someone completely. I saw Setrakus Ra as a giant, mighty and big, with blood dripping from his fangs and eyes that looked deep into your soul and could rip you apart from the inside. I also saw many Mogadorian soldiers marching in pairs and as they marched, the designs on their heads began to move and mutate, welding themselves to their heads and turning them into some kind of demonic beings that could latch onto you and suck the life out of you like leeches. They only had mouths since the dark tattoos turned them black and rows of sharp teeth that were as sharp as knives.

I splash some water on my face to shake the images from my mind and drink some too. The arena seems unchanged since the last time we saw it, which means the Gamemakers have let us recover... probably because we're fan favourites.

I decide a little water could wake up the others. I scoop up some water in my hands and splash some in Marvel's face. He sputters and blinks in confusion. I do the same for Cato, feeling a lot of satisfaction in doing so. I apply some water to Clove's face and she also sputters and opens her eyes.

She looks up and smiles at me. I have an urge to lean down and kiss her when a sharp pain hits my hand. I look down and see a huge welt on the back of my hand. It's purple and about the size of a plum and it itches. I begin scratching it and it kills.

"What happened to Peeta?" Clove asks, stretching out on the grass.

"I took care of him." Cato announces. "I went back for my sword and found him trying to help Katniss escape. I may have been stung , but I managed to get him real good. He's probably dead, if not close to it"

Clover smirks slightly. "Knew he wasn't worth the trouble." She inspects herself for more stings.

I do the same and I find one on my left heel, one on my upper bicep and the final one in my side.

Marvel stops for a moment. "I guess Glimmer and Dani didn't make it."

I suddenly realize the absence of females in our group. The last time I saw them, they were being attacked worse than us. I couldn't tell if they tried to run...

We're solemn for a moment. Cato pats Marvel on the back. "Part of the game bro...we were the lucky ones."

"I guess..." Marvel says softly. I can hear the anguish in his voice. He and Glimmer were friends and losing her can takes its toll on him. It kind of makes me mad the way Cato shrugs it off. Guess that's life in the Games.

I itch again and scratch my hand so hard it just might bleed.

"Isn't there something in the supplies to soothe this." I hiss through gritted teeth.

Just as I say that some silver tube with a small white parachute comes drifting down from the sky, landing in front of us.

"A Sponsor gift!" Marvel cheers. He dives for the small parcel and twists off the top. Out comes a white tube that looks like it may be for toothpaste.

"Cream" Clove sighs in relief. "Cream for the stings."

Marvel squirts some in his hand and applies it. We all take turns. Once I dab the sore areas, instant relief flows through me and the urge to itch ceases. The swelling goes down significantly and I manage to pluck out the stinger.

"So much better" I sigh under my breath. I greedily apply some more.

"Shall we head back to camp?" I suggest when we've all pretty much emptied the tube.

Without a word we head back, which isn't too far a trip to the Cornucopia. We reach our and immediately start searching for food. We wolf down as much as we can and lay back to relax a bit, still in recovery from the stings.

I watch with an uneasy stomach as Cato cleans blood from his sword...probably Peeta's. I swallow hard on a piece of beef.

It's later in the afternoon when Cato and Marvel start dueling again out of boredom. I hope we skip our nightly tribute hunt and just get regular, non nightmare-inducing sleep.

Clove and I are sitting in the shade, leaning quite close to each other.

"Can I ask you something?" Clove whispers.

"Sure." I say.

"I'm not sure if this was real or not because of the venom, but at one point...you looked like a robot? Your skin was metal and hard. I thought I saw you dive on top of me to protect me. I can't tell if it was real..."

I swallow hard and bite my lip. She saw my ability...if I tell her the truth, she'll definitely leave me, but fortunately for this display, I have an excuse.

"It was the venom" I nod, trying to sound convincing. "I was as normal as you were."

"That's what I thought." Clove says. "What kind of person would have metal skin anyways? How would that be possible?! You're not part robot? are you" She laughs. I force myself to laugh along with her.

I lean in close to her and bring her lips to mine. "I'm as human as you are...just missing and eye."

We kiss for a moment, glad that Glimmer isn't interrupting it. I embrace and savor the tenderness and taste of her lips, knowing we should not show our weakness to the others. It is hard for me to lie to her... about being human...but if I did, she'd try to kill me or she'd hate me forever. I don't know which could be worse?


	30. Chapter 29: Reunion

Chapter 29: Reunion

Christina (Number Ten)'s POV

I back away from the bushes, the heat so intense that I feel like I'm suffocating. This was no accidental fire, it was deliberately set, which means we're all screwed if we can't escape.

I run back to the lake and slip behind the waterfall. All my supplies is there and it feels like coming home again. I know I'm safe for the moment. I may be able to avoid the flames, but not the heat. I can feel the cave becoming hotter and hotter. It's like slowly being roasted in an oven. At one point, I stick my head under the water. It does little to cool me very much, but provides temporary relief. When I pull my head out, I can see through the shimmering water the flames surrounding the entire lake. I feel little security, but the change in temperature is a small welcome change from the cold frigid nights I've had in the cave.

I go back to where I've set up a bed. I hope that the others are okay and safe. John, I'm sure is alright, this is his natural element, but Nine, Marina, my brother...

Aruvun. My precious brother, the only family I have left. I love him so much, despite the amount of time we spent apart. It breaks my heart that our families were divided and there was nothing, but hate.

There still is nothing, but hate. I'm the only one who seems to love Five in spite of all the things he's done. I can understand the other's objections, but none of us are perfect. We've all made stupid mistakes that either almost got us killed or in terrible danger. For One, it was getting arrested and having her scars photographed, Two, a post on the internet and Three, trying to hide his scars. For John it was trying to be normal and jumping out of a burning house. Six was responding to Two's post which led to her imprisonment and death of her Cepan. Marina drugging her Cepan to get her chest, Eight although always suspicious, was unable to convince his Cepan that his girlfriend was treacherous and for Nine, running away and trusting Madison, a girl he crushed on. In Madison's defense, she was desperate to save her parents, which resulted in all their deaths. For me, like John, I tried to be normal and let my pendant be shown in real life, which led to my discovery and Annie taking her own life.

I try to go into the meditated state again, try to get back to Ella, see if she's still stuck in a Ra made hell.

I shut my eyes and breath in the humid air. I go back into the blackness and try to reach out to Ella.

I'm suddenly in a white room with florescent lights that could blind someone. The floor is tiled and the walls seem like this inside of some kind of ship. I try to reach out and touch the wall, but my hand goes through it. I realize that this vision is like ones we've had before. We are merely ghosts in the vision, but I've never seen one so realistic before. The only other time was when I was in Ella's nightmare, helpless to help Six and Nine. Is this some kind of telepathy bonus?

I squint across the room and a lanky figure begins to materialize. I squint under the intense lights, but my jaw drops when I see who it is.

"John!" I say, seeing him just across the room. I run towards him

"Christina" he says.

I reach my arms out to hug him and embrace him.

"I'm glad you're okay." he says returning my hug. "Are you doing this?"

"No...at least I don't think so. I was trying to get back to Ella."

"Do you think she's doing it?"

"Yes..." we hear a small voice.

We both turn to see Ella standing at what seems to be the door of the room. She's still quite petite and she looks a bit skinnier, but her auburn locks and small brown eyes are the same. Not the evil version in her nightmare.

"Ella!" I say. I run over to her and pull her into a hug. John joins us and we are all on our knees. I can feel my eyes welling up in tears, so overjoyed

I immediately begin apologizing to her.

"I'm sorry Ella, I'm so sorry we weren't there to protect you. We wanted more than anything to go and find you. I saw what happened, I'm so sorry."

She doesn't say anything and just nods, her eyes shiny with small tears. I hold her close.

Tears are streaming down my face. I cup the side of her face to make sure she's really here. I just want to pick her up and take her into the arena. She won't be as safe, but out of the clutches of the Mogs. The Games are paradise compared to the Mogadorians.

"Are you really here?" I ask.

"My mind is..." Ella answers. "And with Christina's telepathy, it's a lot stronger."

"Where are we?" John asks.

"Aboard the Anubis?" Ella says quietly.

"The what?" John says.

"Ra's spaceship..." Ella explains.

She reaches over and takes us by the hand. She begins to guiding us out of the bleach white room, a door opening automatically as if we're really here and down a narrow corridor. If this is a Mog ship, I'm surprised how clean and pristine it looks, knowing their savage nature. We start walking past windows that show the most hideous Mogs doing some different kinds of experiments, dressed lab coats, as if those could make them less ugly or massive. I am curious of what they're doing, but Ella keeps us moving along.

Ella takes us to a room on the far side of the corridor. I nearly vomit when I see what's going on. Several Mogs lean over the limp and pale body of Ella. There are tubes sticking out of her body and they're pumping black liquid into her body. She is starting to look like the Ella I saw in the vision and I become queasy.

John and I immediately rush inside the door and try to stop what they're doing, but our arms go right through them. The Mogs don't even look up from what they're doing. I remember that we are ghosts in a vision of what's happening right now.

I look over at Ella and tears stream down my face. This overwhelming guilt builds up inside me.

"Ella what are they doing to you?!" I moan.

"He's making me better?" she answers.

"Who? Ra?" John snarls.

"At least that's what he thinks."

"What does he want from you?" I ask.

"He wants my support." Ella answers.

"He said you were his heir in the dream." I ask. "Is that..."

I read Ella's thoughts and a single word falls from my mouth.

"No...!"

Ella's brown eyes lock on mine and she gives a subtle nod.

"No, no, no, no, no..." I mumble.

"Say that on repeat for a couple days in your head and you might be where I am right now." Ella murmurs.

A fresh round of tears breaks out from me and I hug her. John stares on to us like I've lost all my nerve. I just never want to let Ella go. She should be with us, feeling loved and protected, not being tortured and poisoned.

"What is it?" John asks.

Ella looks at me and it's my turn to nod.

"Ra says I'm his heir because he's my...grandfather."

John's eyes go wide in horror and he's at a loss for words. He kneels down next to us and puts his arms around all of us. We're in one big hug, just holding each other, trying to savor the moment because any second this could all vanish. Despite the horror going on in real-life around us, we're at peace. I feel like we're siblings, holding each other up, preparing for the worst.

I never want to let Ella go again.

...

It's a long time before we break apart. The Mogs have stopped their operations and have left Ella's limp form connected up the crazy machinery. I stand up from the group hug and go to where she is. I can't look at it, it's so distressing. I try to remind myself, that Ra isn't intentionally hurting her. He's just slowly poisoning her to death. Adam told me that Ra was developing some kind of technology that promises immortality. His father was one of the test subjects, but there are severe side effects.

"I can't believe he's doing this to you." I whisper, standing over Ella's body.

"It doesn't hurt..." Ella says. "Much."

"He's a monster." John growls and takes mine and Ella's. "He needs to pay for all his sins."

"He'll pay dearly for this." I add.

An idea comes to me.

"Ella, if you and I can do this with John...do you think..."

"Definitely" Ella says with a small smile.

We start speaking telepathically to each other, a plan forming quickly.

_Take a quick break..._ I tell her.

_Sure..._

"What?" John asks.

We look at John and smile.

"It's time to bring the team together."

"H-" before John can say anything else. Ella dissolves from the vision.

"Where'd she...?!"

"She's taking a break John. You should rest too. We'll call you when it's time."

"Wait..."

Before he can say anything else he and the scene around me dissolves back into darkness.

I wake up in a hot sweat and rush over to the waterfall. The heat is fermenting and the inferno The heat is fermenting and the inferno seems to have passed. I wash my face off in the running water to calm myself down.

I sit back down and shut my eyes.

_Are you there Ella?_

_Yes..._

_We need someplace safe._

_Like a safe house _

Some place warm and quiet.

_Like an alcove_

_It's a start._

_Just give me a few minutes._ I tell Ella.

_Sure..._

_If Ella can do this...so can I._

I concentrate hard and picture whom I want to see in my head.

My eyes open again, I'm in a small room...almost like an alcove with a roaring fire. There are shelves and shelves of books that take up the wall space and comfortable chairs which I think are set in velvet or some kind of soft material. A painting over the fire hangs, watching the scene below. I feel safe here, I feel some comfort. I don't know where this is, but Ella and I thought about it together and this is what came up.

Someone materializes at the end of the room by the window.

"Blake!" I say quietly. I run across the room and wrap my arms around him. He's confused, but not enough to kiss me.

Tears begin running down my face as I hold him in my arms. His skin, his hair...his body, to be wrapped around me again.

When we break apart I look him in the eyes. Those beautiful brown eyes. I want so badly for this to be real, but my heart sinks when I know it's not.

"I missed you so much..." I whisper.

"Are...you really here?" Blake asks. "What is this place?"

"Our minds are here. It's the safest place Ella and I could think of to reunite."

"Ella...? Is she okay?"

"In her mind...she is..." I mutter vaguely.

"What do you mean?"

Ella materializes across the room. Blake lets go of me and runs to her. Blake wraps his arms around her.

"Ella!" he sobs. "Thank god you're okay...I'm so sorry about what happened...Sarah and I, we..."

Ella interrupts him. "It's okay...they didn't hurt me...not a lot anyway."

Blake looks over at me. I come over and put my arms around Ella. The representatives of District 10 are together again.

"Time to bring everyone in." I say.

I shut my eyes again. I picture everyone whom I want to be there. Human, Garde or Mogadorian, we all need to be together.

One by one they appear. John, Sarah, Mark, Two, Six, Adam...and so on. they need to be here.

At first they are confused and bewildered of where they happen to be, but once they see each other. One practically jumps into Adam's arms in excitement. John and Sarah embrace each other and kiss. Six runs to hug Sam. Marina and Eight kiss hard and everyone else seems to go towards Ella. Three reaches her first and wraps his arms around her. Two and Nine soon follow. There are murmuring of voices as we all re-unite in such a way that makes us feel slightly at peace.

"Are we actually here?" Two asks. "Who's doing this?"

"Ella and I." I explain. "Our telepathy does a lot more than you'd expect. All of our conscious are here, but our bodies are where we left them."

We all draw together into a group hug, comforting each other. We all gather around Ella, letting her know that she is loved and we're all thinking of her.

"I miss this." Ella says gently. "I miss us all being together."

"Together or divided, we're still a team." John murmurs.

"Speaking of team." Nine says. "I've got an ally for you."

"Amber?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. I can see his cheeks turn red slightly.

"Yes... Amber" Nine says, trying to brush off my implications. "She's from D3 and she..."

"She saved him." I smirk. I love this mind-reading, it makes everything so much more fun. "He got hit by a knife and Amber saved him."

Eight, Sam and One snicker and John elbows Nine in a joking fashion rather than in punishment. Nine tries to seem tough, but he can't hide the blush in his cheeks.

Sarah is the only one not teasing Nine, she puts her hand on his shoulder and gives him a reassuring smile. Sarah never laughs at anyone and never teases out of spite.

"I glad you're with someone." she smiles.

"Are you guys okay?" I ask, Blake and Sarah. The others look at me in confusion.

"Minor wounds." Blake answers, putting his arm around me.

"Wait, what wounds?" John asks, looking over at Sarah.

"When...I told you that Ra got Ella, I didn't say how they got her."

"Ella is that where you are?" Marina shrieks.

"Ra has me?!"

"WHAT?!" Six screeches.

"What the hell?! Why didn't you tell us?!" Nine barks at me.

"It happened as the Games were starting, I could only tell John before the gong went." I squeak. I am guilty here, but I was so overwhelmed by the vision, that I forgot.

"Are you okay?" John asks Sarah.

"My shoulder had to be stitched up, and Blake has to stay off his leg, but we're okay." she says.

"Don't shrug it off." John grimaces. He hates seeing anyone getting hurt.

"We're too vulnerable alone." One says. "We need a plan."

"Those in the arena have to find each other." I say. "With any tribute who wants to live."

"Those outside the arena need to head to the Capitol." John adds.

"How?" Sam asks.

"Via train." Two says. "There are ones that go to the Capitol to deliver the products the district makes. We'll go together and stay together."

"Great." Mark moans. "Stuck in a tiny, metal train with raw meat! Why couldn't your district deliver something less disgusting?"

I reach over and pat Mark's shoulder. "We'll talk to Snow about that okay?" I say.

"What about you guys?" Sam asks. "How are you gonna break out?"

"Working on that." Three says. "I've seen the edge of the arena. All around it has some sort of electric field that roasts anything that comes near it."

Something clicks in my mind.

"Can't you control light particles?" I ask.

"Uh...I think that's what it is why?"

"Light and electricity. Do you think you could control the current around the arena?"

"I'm not that strong yet."

"I can help with that." Adam adds.

"We both can." One says, holding his hand. "If we make an earthquake big enough, the dome around the arena would crack like an egg."

"Two opposing forces on either side. That's brilliant!" Two says.

"Three can use his legacy to help weaken it in the right spot and the whole thing will come down!"

"The problem is where to find you guys." Sam says.

"We're outside the Capitol for sure." Eight mutters.

"The trackers..." Marina says, holding out her arm. "the trackers...! Do you think one of you could do some tech work?"

"Why?" Two asks.

"All tributes have trackers in their arms."

"All except me." I say, showing the black snake thing.

"You could use that to find us." Marina says, pondering it.

"It's possible." Two mutters, doing the math in her head.

I start trying to rip the tracking thing off of me. My nails dig hard to get at it, but it seems stuck.

"Maybe I can do something?" Ella asks.

We all stop an look at her, the odd one out with this plan.

"What can you do?" Marks asks gently.

"I don't doubt that the Mogs have the Games on and Ra has a room full of crazy machinery, no doubt he has a few digital maps and a copy of your locations. I can contact you telepathically with the details or so something like this again"

"But Ella..." I protest, thinking of the black ink that is flowing in her veins, changing her. "Do you think that's safe?"

"I can break a few rules up there." Ella says, trying to sound confident. "I'll just say I'm interested in his war plans. I'm his granddaughter, he won't hurt me."

Mouths drop and the place goes silent. All eyes of those who didn't know go to the youngest Garde. Her face goes a shade of red.

"You have to be joking?!" Nine screeches. "You're making shit up!"

"I'm not." Ella says, grimacing. "I wish I was."

All fall into another group hug around Ella, feeling it is the best way to cope with news. We pause again and remain quiet.

When we break again.

"It sounds like we have a plan." Eight whispers.

There's a long pause. We know that Ella and I will have to send everyone back now. We all hug each other. I kiss Blake for a long time and hold him close. The other couples do the same.

"Stay safe." I whisper to him. "I love you."

"I love you too." Blake murmurs.

We kiss again. I don't want to lose the taste of his lips. I have him and I want to keep him.

"It's time." Ella mutters, interrupting our embrace.

I lean down and put my arms around her.

"We'll find you..." I say. "I promise."

"I have faith."

"And hope. Never lose Hope." I say.

We break apart and I wipe a tear from her cheek. I grab her and Blake's hand.

"Everyone ready?" I ask.

A heavy silence hangs over us. I look at each of the sad, but determined eyes of our team. We will meet again.

We will fight...

and we will win this war!.


	31. Chapter 30: Freak

Chapter 30: Freak

Number Three's POV

I start running towards the sounds of her screams. My heart breaks immensely for the girl I care about. She sounds like she is in excruciating pain. The weight of being pulled from the water is slowing me up a bit. I push my body as best I can.

I do my best to follow the buzzing noise, some kind of trap from the Gamemakers no doubt. The Careers, including Glimmer probably encountered them, just like the fire wall.

There's sudden silence, eerie silence. I stop and my heart drops. I lean against a nearby tree to get some support. I wait for the infamous sound signalling someone's death. Tears well up in my eyes...I'm too late...I couldn't save her. I couldn't tell her how I felt. To touch her, hold her...kiss her one last time...

Except there's no cannon sound. There's nothing, but the sounds of nature.

Something runs straight into me, knocking the wind out of both of us. We both go flying to the ground, entangled in each other's coats and backpack.

"LET ME GO, Let me go!" a familiar voice screams.

We're so entangled in each other, but Glimmer is fighting tooth and nail to get away. She kicks me in the head several times

"Glimmer it's me!" I say.

She won't stop struggling and I can see her flushed face. Tears are running down her face and sweat pouring from her head, making her a hot mess. She's hyperventilating and scared beyond comprehension. I put my arms around her and try to hold her. She resists in every way possible.

"LET ME GO!" she shrieks.

Her face is twisted in pure terror and she refuses to calm down. She's throwing punches

I pull her forward and kiss her. She pushes against me until she opens those beautiful green eyes and sees who's kissing her. She stops, but I can't. The taste for her overwhelms me, her luscious lips taste like salt and her skin feels so soft against mine. My heart is on fire and my body is racing with excitement. I know for sure my feelings for her are genuine.

She pulls back.

"Survival Man?" she says.

"My name is Th...Ash." I say. I immediately snap out of the spell and help her to her feet. "I...I'm sorry, I guess I got carried away."

"It's...okay I guess. Thank gawd a human being"

"What are you talking about? What were you running from? Are you okay, I heard you screaming."

"It...it was awful." She says shuddering. She sits down next to a tree and pulls her legs up. I sit down next her, hoping the worst of her panic attack is over.

"I woke up with blinding pain, it was coming from all over. My eyes immediately began swelling and all I could see were this insects with such a loud buzzing, I couldn't hear myself. The pain was to intense that I couldn't move and the bugs just kept stinging me...I knew then that I was about to die..."

I pull her close, trying to comfort her. She rocks back and forth to calm herself a bit more.

"I'd never thought I'd be so afraid to die...I wasn't ready to die...I have so much more to give..." New tears are running down her face. "The cold started coming and a numbness, something that relieved the pain, even if it was brief...But the cold, and the darkness...I've never been so scared in my life. This blackness was coming to claim me and I could feel my heart beat slowing. I couldn't breath anymore and my lungs burned because of it. You don't know what it's like to suffocate. I fought with everything I had to breath, but it was no use in the end. I don't know if I could cry at all. The buzzing had stopped, but I..."

I pull her into my arms and she doesn't resist, in fact she embraces me completely. She continues to cry, clinging to me as if I'm her only chance to live.

"There's so much I wanted to do and my mom and dad...and my brother..."

"Brother?" I say.

"He's just a baby. He would never know his big sister..."

I just hold her and let her cry herself out. This is the far cry from the spoiled, killer facade she's had on recently. I'm holding a vulnerable little girl, she needs my protection. I put my hand against her back and rub it.

"It's okay..." I say quietly. It's okay I'm here."

"I need you Ash..." she says. "You're the one I need. While I was dying...I did think of you. How we only knew each other for so long, there was so much I wanted to say..."

"Like what?" I whisper.

"Like you were the sweetest guy I've ever met. You didn't treat me like an object and you actually made me think of someone other than myself..."

I'm surprised to hear her say that. It is true that she is spoiled and very viscous...I briefly saw it at the Cornucopia. It broke my heart to see the seemingly sweet girl that I had kissed and who brought out the beautiful legacy of lights within me.

"You were the only guy who broke through to me and saw past my looks..."

I did see something in her. That's why I was so drawn to her. It could have been love at first sight, but I guess I sensed something in her, that she was more than she seemed. I guess any guys that she's been with before, which I don't doubt in the slightest that she has, were only after her looks, nothing else. No doubt she was popular where she's from, but that's all people ever saw in her.

She is a sweet girl. She has hopes, fears and insecurities like everyone else, characteristics that I guess she tries to hide to keep her personae up. She may be viscous, but there's more than what she seems She was willing to accept me, even though I can act like a complete dork sometimes and being so isolated for so long. She saw something in me too. I guess we meant a lot more to each other than we thought.

When Glimmer calms down a bit more, she looks up at me. Her eyes are bloodshot from crying and her cheeks are shiny, but she still looks beautiful.

"You should've been my only ally from the start" she says. She leans up and kisses me. She cups my face in her hand and pulls me closer to her. The fireworks inside me seem to burst. I start trying to prevent any crazy lights from going off, just so we can have some normal time to ourselves.

"At least you're human..." she adds.

My stomach drops. "What?" I choke.

"You're human... I didn't tell you how I escaped death." I really don't want to hear this because I already know what she'll say.

"This is going to sound completely crazy, in fact right next to insane, but as the darkness was claiming me, a sudden coldness shot through my body like a lightening bolt. The darkness began to recede back to wherever it's supposed to go and the pain came back. I was so cared about what was happening, I thought death would be less painful. Then the cold got harder and worse until it...numbed me. The pain began to go away and I could breath again. I could hear the sounds of nature and people's voices. When I opened my eyes I saw a girl from one of the other districts. It took me a few seconds to realize how I'd escaped death...she healed me with some kind of magic."

"Uh...You sure it was magic?" I stammer, knowing that the girl was Marina.

"Either that or some freakish mutation. It was definitely not a sponsor gift. The girl was a freak and she saved me? Doesn't she know this is the Hunger Games, people are supposed to die."

"B-but you just said you were a-afraid to die and she clearly s-saved your life..."

"And then I threw stones at her and they somehow missed." she continues as if she didn't hear me. "And it was as if she controlled them. My bow and arrows were also gone, but by then by the fact that I was faced with some inhuman freak, I had to get out of there."

I swallow hard and just remain silent. Glimmer is no way grateful for what Marina did for her and the way she talks about it, the realization that she was not next to a human scared her out of her mind. Which I guess would be a normal reaction to meeting aliens. We've been lucky with our other human counterparts who accepted it, often because they had no choice in the matter. We usually used their abilities to save their lives.

_If only she knew.._. I think to myself. My mind then goes to a dark place._What would she do if she found out what I was? She definitely wouldn't like me, reject me, even try to kill me if given the chance..._

I can't stand the idea of seeing Glimmer hate me in any shape or form. It would kill me, literally. I like her a lot and I don't want her to turn on me. At the same time, I don't want to lie to her. I haven't even told her my real, mostly because I don't have one, just a number, something that would scare her even more. The others seem so lucky, their human counterparts accepted them for who they were...out of...love.

_If she can't accept me for who I am then it's not love..._ I think to myself. _But I can't just leave her to find the others. She'll probably starve to death or try and find the other Careers. She might turn on us and fight for the Capitol. She could be killed in a number of ways. If the insects were one thing and the fire from the Gamemakers there's too many hazards. She'll die._

At the same time, if she trusts me, she could be helpful in the war, she has the skills for it for sure. She could accept me for who I am, but I'm grasping at straws really. I'm a freak to her.

_I don't want to leave her..._I think to myself. _Despite everything she says, I want to be near her. I don't have to say anything about who I am, I'll just keep my mouth shut and my legacies a secret for as long as I can. When the time does come..._

_I'll cross that bridge when I come to it..._

"Should we start hiking?" I suggest. "Get as far away from the...uh...freaks as possible." I want to punch myself for calling our kind freaks.

"Absolutely." Glimmer says. We get up and start on our way. We hike up through the trees and over rocks until we're a good distance from anything that moves. It's really quiet except for the occasional birds and the rustling of the wind against the trees. It reminds me a lot of my days in the jungle...I am still running for my life, but I'm with someone...someone I like... a lot.

During our hike, Glimmer puts her hand in mine and squeezes it often. I do my best to avoid her gaze, praying that she doesn't suspect anything. I guess she doesn't, if she holds my hand.

I ask her questions about her life back in District 1. Her life is pretty nice, living in luxury, going to an exclusive boarding school, friends and boyfriends galore and training for the Hunger Games. Her mother had been divorced five times in Glimmer's lifetime and also had many lovers. Her mom finally found someone who could give her another beautiful child. Her baby brother was a couple months old and Glimmer adored him to the core. She stayed away from the diapers and feeding, but she spoiled her brother and took him everywhere to show him the world. She'd known her district partner Marvel for a long time at the boarding school, they even dated, but she broke up with him when he cheated on her. They agreed to still be friends, but she still held some animosity towards him, something that came out in her training. She told him, she'd been cheated on multiple times with her boyfriends. She admits that she sometimes did the cheating, but most of the time it was the boys. She had a lot of pent up rage towards them, so she used the training for the Hunger Games to channel her anger into something constructive. She claims that most of the boys she dated just wanted to show her off and become popular.

I begin to understand that Glimmer is more insecure than she lets on. She wants to be seen as more than just a "trophy" or something pretty. I could also tell that she hated how much her mother married and how she couldn't her own father at all. Her mother could never keep her partners straight and Glimmer was worried she was becoming too much like her mom. A person who didn't care about other's feelings A serial dater.

I re-assure her that she's nothing like her mother, she's sweet and cares for those she loves. Glimmer asks about me and I make up a bunch of crap that I hope she will believe. I really want to be honest with her, but I know she'll let go of my hand and run away hurt and scared.

I eventually suggest that we stop for the night and Glimmer agrees. I get out my spear and decide to show her how to hunt. She gets really excited whenever I hit something...it's like I have my own little cheerleader.

We eat dinner together, Glimmer is quite disgusted about how I skinned and prepared the food from what I hunted, but hunger soon takes over and she eats...they aren't called the Hunger Games for nothing. She eats slowly and grimaces as she does so. I guess she never had to see how her food got on her plate. It also seemed weird to me that she cheered me on when I did the hunting, but hated to see the result. Thrill of the hunt I guess.

As the sun goes down, Glimmer gets gradually closer to me. I poke at the fire she made herself, feeling very proud for doing so and after the Capitol logo appears in the sky and the anthem ends, she nestles up to me and falls asleep.

I stare at the fire for a long time alone again with my thoughts. I occasionally look at Glimmer and see her perfectly sculpted face reflect the warm glow of the fire. I feel tears come into my eyes and I lean in and kiss her. I feel so ashamed for having lied to her...but she would've hated me otherwise. I don't know if I can live with the guilt of lying to the girl I like...

My thoughts suddenly are not my own. My vision becomes blurry and my hearing is going. I don't know what's happening...Could this be a new legacy?

I'm pulled through darkness until I'm in a a small alcove type space with a roaring fire, shelves of books, an oil painting and comfy chairs. I'm definitely not alone either, all around the other Garde and humans appear next to me. I'm confused beyond belief and I pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. I figure out this is some kind of telepathy thing. When I see Ella I go to her immediately, happy to see her conscious and okay. I embrace her and everything feels solid. It could be a teleportation thing too?

"Are we actually here?" Two asks. "Who's doing this?"

"Ella and I." Christina explains. "Our telepathy does a lot more than you'd expect. All of our consciouses are here, but our bodies are where we left them."

_So that explains it_... I think to myself. Everyone comes in around me and Ella into a group hug.

"I miss this." Ella says gently. "I miss us all being together."

"Together or divided, we're still a team." John murmurs.

"Speaking of team." Nine says. "I've got an ally for you."

"Amber?" Christina says smiling. I often forget she can read minds.

"Yes... Amber" Nine says, trying to brush off my implications. "She's from D3 and she..."

I start thinking about my ally er...companion and whether I should tell the others about her...

Eight, Sam and One snicker and John elbows Nine in a joking fashion rather than in punishment. Nine tries to seem tough, but he can't hide the blush in his cheeks.

Sarah is the only one not teasing Nine, she puts her hand on his shoulder and gives him a reassuring smile.

"I glad you're with someone." she smiles.

"We found someone too." Marina pipes up. "Her name is Dani, she's from District 4."

"She's my district partner."John adds. I can see Sarah eye John suspiciously and John kisses her on her cheek to re-assure her.

"I'm impressed you guys got a Career to join." Eight says, holding Marina's hand tightly.

"We saved her life." Marina says. "She's quite pumped to be apart of the team, plus she owes us one."

I want to mention Glimmer, but something holds me back. Maybe this Dani can be trusted, but I don't think the others would like Glimmer...she works along side Marvel and the guys from District 2. She would also not hesitate to kill. Plus if I tole them that Glimmer calls us freaks and the fact that I haven't told her who I am...it would cause a lot of problems.

"Are you guys okay?" Christina asks, Blake and Sarah. I become confused by this statement.

"Minor wounds." Blake answers.

"Wait, what wounds?" John asks.

"When...I told you that Ra got Ella, I didn't say how they got her."

This is the first I'm hearing of this. If Blake and Sarah were wounded, were they in some kind of battle? With the Mogs or the Capitol.

"Ella is that where you are?" Marina shrieks.

"Ra has me?!"

"WHAT?!" Six screeches.

"What the hell?! Why didn't you tell us?!" Nine barks at me.

"It happened as the Games were starting, I could only tell John before the gong went." Christina says, I can see the guilt on her face. Quite similar to mine about Glimmer.

"Are you okay?" John asks Sarah.

"My shoulder had to be stitched up, and Blake has to stay off his leg, but we're okay." she says.

"Don't shrug it off." John grimaces. He hates seeing anyone get hurt.

"We're too vulnerable alone." One says. "We need a plan."

"Those in the arena have to find each other." Christina says. "With any tribute who wants to live."

"Those outside the arena need to head to the Capitol." John adds.

"How?" Sam asks.

"Via train." Two says. "There are ones that go to the Capitol to deliver the products the district makes. We'll go together and stay together."

I feel slightly left out, the others seem to have plans already in motion and have allies. They also didn't almost drown in a river and run blindly into a girl they liked. I keep my head clear so Christina can't hear anything.

"Great." Mark moans. "Stuck in a tiny, metal train with raw meat! Why couldn't your district deliver something less disgusting?"

"We'll talk to Snow about that okay?" Christina says.

"What about you guys?" Sam asks. "How are you gonna break out?"

My eyes light up when she says that. I actually feel useful now. "Working on that." I pipe up. "I've seen the edge of the arena. All around it has some sort of electric field that roasts anything that comes near it."

"Can't you control light particles?" Christina asks.

"Uh...I think that's what it is why?" I answer. if I'm honest with myself, I don't really know what I can do...create a light show, fiddle with electricity...

"Light and electricity. Do you think you could control the current around the arena?"

"I'm not that strong yet." I admit. My face turns red. Again, it's my lack of training as a liability

"I can help with that." Adam adds.

"We both can." One says, holding his hand. "If we make an earthquake big enough, the dome around the arena would crack like an egg."

"Two opposing forces on either side. That's brilliant!" Two says.

"Three can use his legacy to help weaken it in the right spot and the whole thing will come down!"

"The problem is where to find you guys." Sam says.

"We're outside the Capitol for sure." Eight mutters.

"The trackers..." Marina says, holding out her arm. "The trackers...! Do you think one of you could do some tech work?"

"Why?" Two asks.

"All tributes have trackers in their arms."

"You could use that to find us." Marina says, pondering it.

"It's possible." Two mutters, doing the math in her head.

"Maybe I can do something?" Ella asks.

We all stop an look at her, the odd one out with this plan.

"What can you do?" Marks asks gently.

"I don't doubt that the Mogs have the Games on and Ra has a room full of crazy machinery, no doubt he has a few digital maps and a copy of your locations. I can contact you telepathically with the details or so something like this again"

Christina asks Ella about her safety, the same thing we're all thinking about her. I know we all feel immense guilt for leaving Ella alone and in a desperate time of need.

"I can break a few rules up there." Ella says, trying to sound confident. "I'll just say I'm interested in his war plans. I'm his granddaughter, he won't hurt me."

Mouths drop and the place goes silent. All eyes of those who didn't know go to the youngest Garde. Her face goes a shade of red. I'm in complete shock. Ella is Ra's granddaughter?! That makes him Loric and makes the situation a lot more complicated than it already is!

"You have to be joking?!" Nine screeches. "You're making shit up!"

"I'm not." Ella says, grimacing. "I wish I was."

All fall into another group hug around Ella, feeling it is the best way to cope with news. We pause again and remain quiet.

When we break again.

"It sounds like we have a plan." Eight whispers.

There's a long pause and we embrace again. I talk to Adam about meeting up at the edge of the arena and he nods, knowing what to do. I stare at the others as they say good bye to their loved ones. I feel slightly lucky that my loved one is in my arms in the real world, but then again, it is more complicated than that.

"It's time." Ella mutters.

"We'll find you..." Christina says to Ella. "I promise."

"I have faith." Ella says.

"And hope. Never lose Hope." she says.

She glances over at me and I do my best to clear my head.

_You okay?_she asks.

_Yes...fine_. I think as sincerely as possible. I know she can sense my hesitation, but I'm suddenly back to the forest before she can talk to me any further.

I catch my breath and shake the sensations from my body. Whatever that telepathy thing did, it felt like we were in a dream. I look down at Glimmer, still snuggled up to me. She breaths contently and murmurs something quietly. I can feel the the tears coming back. I don't want to lose her under any circumstances but the others would probably not trust her and she'd run away as soon as she saw what we could do. The guilt is tearing me in two. Caught between bringing peace to Earth and my species and the girl I have feelings for...

I lean back against the tree and decide that I need to try and get Glimmer to go the edge of the arena with me, where Adam and the others can meet me. What will happen will happen and I'm not looking forward to it.

What will Glimmer think when she finds out the guy she likes is a freak?


	32. Chapter 31: Sparks Fly

Chapter 31: Sparks Fly

Number Five's POV

Recovery from the wasp attacks has been slow. Even Cato is moving at a sluggish pace, which allows me to piss him off a few times. Tripping him and swiping his sword and he's too weak to anything about it. The only thing that isn't slow is his mouth, which I would gladly seal up so Clove and I could have some peace and quiet. He would not shut up about the fact that they were outwitted by a District 12 tribute and how he wants to go out and kill again. He also talks about why Peeta's face hasn't been flashed up in the sky. Guess Peeta can hold on a lot longer than any of us expected.

More often than not I tell him to shut up. After failing to punch or clobber me, he just swears and lashes out at me. But I've lived with Nine, so I'm able to have a few clever comebacks. I simply sit with Clove and ignore him for the most part.

The thing about Cato is that he'd rather use his fists than anything else so he's not exactly the most fun to be around. He tries to shove me and everyone else around. It's only Clove that can keep him sane. She grabs his arms and strokes it...really awkwardly and tells him to breath. It's a little too close for my taste.

Over the few lazy days, when Clove goes to hang out with Cato, I begin whittling something out of a nearby piece of wood. At first, I was just chucking pieces off it, trying out the knives that Clove put together in a belt for me, but then I saw something begin to take shape. I remember making spheres on the islands and how Albert would sometimes whittle to pass the time. It was good for him to use his hands and allow him to forget about how sick he was becoming. He tried to teach I'm not very good, obviously, but I'd thought I'd make something for Clove, something that she could remember me by... I decide the only thing edgy enough for her and make her feel better was a crown. A victor's crown to be more precise. It would be small, but it would be like she did win The Hunger Games, she could wear it with pride and prove those idiot family members back home that she was worth it. That she mattered.

I'm whittling when we hear noises coming from the bushes.

"Who's there?" Cato barks, drawing his sword.

A skinny and tall figure comes out of the nearby brush. He's pale as ever with a large nose shadowed by his long black hair. It's Adam

"I was wondering if I could join your alliance," Adam says rather bluntly. His eyes go to me for a second before he looks away.

Adam, like the others, doesn't trust me, which is weird since he is the same species as our enemies. One was once captured by the Mogs and held close to where Adam lived. He was in charge of bringing her food. She hated him at first, sassing or ignoring him, but I guess his curiosity peaked and he began asking questions about her life. He eventually bonded with and dare I say fell in love with her. He turned against his own kind and risked his life in helping her. She somehow was able to give Adam part of her legacy and they both managed to escape together. Apparently One, being the leader and the eldest has some bigger understanding of Lorien than the rest of us and can share a legacy with someone she trusts. The others were reluctant about allowing Adam on the team, but they pretty much trusted him like a brother when I attempted to kill Nine.

There is some bad blood between us, but he mostly ignores me.

"What district are you from?" Marvel asks.

"Three."

"What use are you to us?" Cato asks.

Adam shrugs. "I'm good with electronics and stuff. I could re-wire the bombs from the platforms to make booby traps."

He can also create earthquakes

Clove looks over at me and then at Cato.

"That could work," Clove says. It could be a kind of protection system or something. Not all of the tributes out there can survive on hunting."

Cato suddenly grins from ear to ear. "Yeah, that's right."

I swallow, not liking the look on Cato's face.

"What are you thinking?" Clove asks.

"We could set up the mines around our food to protect it. And only we would know how to get to the stuff."

"It's a start," Marvel says.

"But what if something falls, then we're all screwed?" I ask.

Cato ignores me completely, probably given up on my existence entirely. "What do you say toothpick?" he says to Adam.

"I can do that," he says. "In exchange for some of the food."

"Of course," Clove says. "But first, you'll have to set it up. You'll have to earn it."

"I won't be able to do it alone," Adam says. "If this is going to work it will have to be a team effort."

We all look at each other. I'm extremely reluctant to do this, but the others think it's a good idea. I'm sure my reasoning will fall on deaf ears. I can't even figure out why Adam wants to work with these guys. They could easily kill him, but I guess, judging by how big his games coat is on him, he needs food. At this point, he's desperate to eat something.

"Alright," Cato says. He collars Adam. "But I'm in charge got it, nerd?"

Adam just nods and we get to work.

Cato, Marvel and I spend the next few hours digging up the mines around all the platforms. It's boring and tedious, using either our hands or a nearby spade from the tool. The fact that we're digging for landmines makes me kind of nervous. Apparently they are all deactivated after the Games start, but I'm still a little reluctant, what if one of them goes off. I'd be okay with my Externa, but the others wouldn't be so lucky.

While we do the dirty work, Clove and Adam sort the supplies. They have begun stacking all the food in a pyramid, the way Cato thought it should go. When we're done with the mines, we help finish the food pyramid. I still hate this plan, so I secretly fill up my bag with as much food as possible just in case.

By nightfall, we're all tired and dirty. We rest and eat while Adam begins re-wiring the mines. He's finally able to eat a little bit and then he tells us where the mines should be buried. By the end, we're all worn out and we all fall asleep to the sound of the Capitol anthem.

...

"How much longer?" Cato whines.

Adam rolls his eyes. "Just a few more adjustments and it will be ready."

I have to say, Adam's done a great job.

Adam shows everyone the path to take to get food. he marks it out with boots.

"You'll have to do it with precise steps, these things are very sensitive." he explains.

"Yeah, yeah, so no one else will touch without being blown to pieces?" Cato asks.

"Definitely, but I..."

"Hurry it up toothpick!" Cato says insistently.

"Alright, On the count of three, everything will be active and cannot be de-activated again."

"One...two...three..."

He presses some button and a small beep is heard.

"Everything is fully operational."

We all sit down to rest in the sun. The rest of the day passes without incident. It's a quiet night and we have to be super careful with the food pyramid. It surprises me that the Gamemakers haven't sent anything after us. It's been a few days since anything interesting happened. I guess maybe what Adam did add an element of suspense and the audience wants to see if anyone falls for the trap.

Adam sits near me the next day. I start to whittle again ignoring him for the most part.

He leans over and whispers to me. "I wanted to tell Cato that if someone does step on a landmine, it will take the entire pyramid with it."

"He never listens, don't let it bother you," I mutter.

"But I've seen what he can do if this screws up in any way, I could die."

"You can create fricken earthquakes I think you're okay," I say.

We're silent again until Cato gets up.

"Guys, guys..."

We all look upwards.

"What?" Marvel asks.

"There's something smoking out there."

We all look to where Cato is pointing and we see a billow of white smoke coming from the trees.

"Another tribute?" Clove suggests.

"Someone with food..." Marvel says.

"It could be a..." Adam starts.

"I say we go check it out," Cato barks.

"But..." Adam begins.

"I'm in, " Marvel says. "We need some action anyways."

They all begin arming themselves. I can tell Adam is skeptical and so am I.

We haven't seen a single fire since that girl we killed last week, at least I think it was last week. The tributes are obviously smarter than that, but yet Cato is just itching for some action, so poor Adam's protests are falling on deaf ears.

"Should someone stay behind and watch the camp?" Clove asks.

Cato and Marvel begin arguing about whether Adam should stay behind because he is the weakest, but soon they decide that the food is safe and we can all come. I grab my bag on my back, I'm fully prepared to take off at any moment if this all goes to hell. If this is an ambush, I'll let Cato and Marvel take the lead.

We begin hiking in the direction of the smoke. We leave the Cornucopia and enter the trees. I see one last glimpse of golden, horn before we're engulfed by trees. Both Adam and I bring up the rear, obviously not wanting to do this in any shape or form. I'd have stayed behind, but if this is an ambush, I want to at least have a chance to save Clove. Adam has taken a backpack too, filled with food because he, like me is not liking Cato's plan. then again, Adam did suggest it.

We get deeper into the woods and the smell begins to come to us. Whoever is doing this to lure us away is doing a good job.

"I see it!" Marvel shouts. He begins to run toward what could obviously be a danger. I begin to think this could be John's ambush or even that chick Katniss.

We hike up behind Marvel until we enter a clearing.

"What happened?" Cato barks.

"I found what it was," Marvel says.

We look down and see a small fire, made of green stuff, so it would smoke like crazy. It doesn't take a genius to know that it was a set up to lure us away from...

There is a massive boom. So massive that we are almost knocked off our feet.

"What the hell was..."

"No..." Cato said. He begins barrelling through the trees in the direction that we came, Clove following close behind and so is Adam. I start to run when I see Marvel looking in a different direction.

"You coming?" I ask.

"I'll be there soon, if what I think just happened, I want to set up a trap to catch some grub."

"Okay..." I say and I go after the others. I use my enhanced speed as well as a short cut to beat the others to the clearing.

I make it to the Cornucopia first and see the smoking wreckage of what was our pile of food. I can't help, but feel slight satisfaction. Cato's genius idea has left us without food or supplies, except for the stuff on our backs. I'm glad I stashed up on food before we left the site.

The others join soon and I can see the disappointment

I watch as Adam gets up and immediately and flees into the woods. He knows his invention failed...or did it. Maybe he rigged it so the others would be left without food, either way, he knows that he does not want to face Cato's wrath

"I'm going to kill that son of a..." Cato is practically ripping his hair out in fury. He begins pounding the ground and for some reason, not bursting into tears.

I kick a stray piece of wreckage, at least the stuff I saved is safe. I feel that this is the right moment to ditch. Cato is now vulnerable and could very well starve out. Clove and I could escape together and live off the stuff I have.

I lean into Clove and whisper in her ear.

"Let's break the alliance."

"Huh?"

"I have a bunch of food in the bag. We should just take off

"Come on Clove!" I say. "Let's leave psychopath here and..."

Clove looks over at me and then at Cato. She's torn between us.

"Clove..." Cato says. "Don't you dare think about...After all, we've been through."

My heart drops into my stomach.

"What do you mean by..."

Cato grins menacingly. "Oh, she forgot to tell you did she?"

"Cato no!"

"He needs to know Clove..."

"What...?"

"Bolt listen...that... thing we had... uh..."

I've pretty much just realized the truth.

"You and HIM?!" Cato barks. He begins charging towards me, but Clove tries to hold him back,

"It meant nothing Cato I promise..." she says, tears in her eyes. She holds his arm, desperate to prevent him from attacking me.

I can't speak, my throat is swollen shut in anger and grief.

She looks at me and then down at her feet as her eyes produce tears. "I'm sorry Bolt, but Cato and I have been together for a year now, and we've been friends for years before that..."

Cato's anger suddenly turns with a satisfied grin. He's enjoying my pain. It takes everything in me not to race over there and tear his head off.

"You honestly thought that she liked you?!" He asked as if surprised. He begins laughing menacingly.

I want so badly to lash out, but I restrain myself.

"You are so pathetic!" he laughs. "I can't believe that you thought she..." he can hardly finish his sentence he's laughing so hard.

I stare past him at Clove. She gives me an apologetic look, but it's hopeless now. The damage has been done. To think I thought I was falling in love with her! I should've known better that I was being played like an instrument. The Mogs were right all along, you can't trust anybody. It's better to be alone and now I've been humiliated on live TV. I take the thing I was carving for her out of wood and snap it in two. I throw it one the ground Cato continues to laugh at me as if this is the funniest thing to ever happen to him. I grab the belt of knives Clove had given me and with my telekinesis I hurtle both of them off their feet. I take one last look at Clove before turning my back.

I storm towards the woods, the anger consuming me. I no longer feel anything.


	33. Chapter 32: Feathered Messenger

Chapter 32: Feathered Messenger

John (Number Four's) POV

I wake up from the vision. I feel a bit better after seeing Sarah and everyone else. Even though this was a manifestation of Ella and Christina's minds, I felt like we were really there, but now that we're out, I start to miss Sarah even more. I am a little mad at Christina for not telling me that she and Blake were wounded in the Mog attack that abducted Ella, but I don't need to break up the team over something rather small. Sarah is fine and safe, it's all I needed to hear. It gives me the strength for what we're going to have to do next.

I sit up and stretch as the morning light comes into the arena. I know it's time to find everyone, especially Adam, who is going to help take down the arena. It's time to finish this war and end Ra for good.

I light up my Lumen to scan for anything unusual, the tree giving me a good vantage point. Everything is quiet, except a few birds chirping in the early morning mist.

One comes and lands on a nearby branch. It begins to sing.

_Hello,_ I say, using my communication ability.

The bird stops and looks at me. It's an unusual kind of bird, grey, with a pointed head and orange feet. I'm no expert on birds, but I've never seen one like this before.

_Are you talking to me, Sir?_ it asks in confusion.

_Yes , I am_, I answer.

_How_? it asks.

_I'm special, I can talk to animals._

_Amazing!_ it says. _You're just like our forefathers_

_Forefathers?_

_We're Mockingjays Sir. We're offspring of what were known as Jabberjays, birds that could communicate human speech, they were used during the Dark Days, the war between the humans, to spy on enemies and bring back information. They were eventually freed and mated with mockingbirds. Now we can't talk anymore, but we can sing human tunes._

_That's interesting._ I nod.

_Now we simply fly around and sing. We're free to do what we want until this glass bubble went up._

_The arena._ I explain.

_Right for the Death Games._

_Yes,_ I agree.

_Senseless waste I must say,_ the bird shakes it head. _We birds will never understand humans._

_Sometimes we humans can't understand each other..._I add.

_You're the first human who could ever talk back to us though and we could understand._

_I'm not human._ I say. _I am an alien from a distant planet and we all come with special gifts one of mine is communicating with other living creatures._

_I've seen some of your people's work!_ the bird chirps excitedly. _Several of my brothers saw the spectacle of your...things. We had never seen anything like it!_

_We were sent here because another alien race destroyed our planet. The alien race is here on earth now and we believe is working with the President of Panem._

_Ah, but what are you doing in here sir? Trapped like a bird in a cage! _the bird asks quizzically.

_We were forced into the Death Games by the President, we're trying to break out and end Panem as well as this war between our species and the other aliens._

_Then we will be free?_ the Mockingjay asks.

_Yes, you and the humans_. I suddenly get an idea. _I was wondering if you might be able to help me?_

_How sir?_ the bird cocks it head to the side.

_You have wings and can fly. I'm looking for the others of my species, I was wondering if you could go and search for them._

_Will they help in ending the tyranny and free our kind from the bubble?_the bird asks.

_Yes, they will._ I say with a smile.

_I would be happy to help!_ the bird says, ruffling its wings out, preparing for flight. _But how will I know it is them?_

I give the bird a description of who to look for and where he might find us when he returns.

_I will do my best sir!_the bird says, ready to take off.

_Thank you!_ I call it.

I watch the tiny grey thing take flight and disappear into the now glowing horizon. I feel some relief, that I've started the search for the others and made another ally along the way. Christina never said that all our allies had to be human.

I look down below at Marina, who's still asleep in the sleeping bag, and next to her on another branch is Dani, our newest ally. We saved her and the tribute from District 1 from a deadly wasp attack and she agreed to help us. Apparently, she's pretty skilled with knives, which may or not be helpful on the battlefield.

I start to wonder where the others are. I know my Lumen would help in location, but it would also attract the other tributes, especially the Careers. Dani warned us right off the bat to stay away from three of them, Cato, Marvel and Clove, all deadly serious players and wouldn't think twice about killing us. The other one was Glimmer, but she freaked out when she saw us, screaming like an idiot and ran into the forest. I highly doubt she's a threat anymore.

I start to climb down from the tree, nudging Marina. She moans and opens her eyes.

We look at each other but say nothing. We both know what happened last night and we know what we have to do. I can see a little bit of sadness in Marina's face, upset that she had to be separated from Eight again.

I climb down to the ground. I gather some wood and use my Lumen to start a fire. Marina joins me soon after. We warm ourselves, waiting for Daniela to wake up. We go through our weapons and supplies. Marina rations things out equally, but we hope that we don't have to stay in this hell hole for much longer. I tell Marina about what I did and she smiles, happy to hear we're making some progress on escaping.

Eventually, Dani wakes up and climbs down to join us.

"Morning," she says.

"Morning," I nod.

"So what's the plan of attack today?" She asks eagerly.

"I have a scout who's going to go ahead and see if he can find some of the others," I answer.

"We can't wait too long for him to come back, though. We'll have to keep moving," Dani says. "The Careers like to track and hunt during the day and night."

"We will," Marina says. "After we eat something."

I chew on a sandwich and toss an apple to Dani. We sit on the soft ground in awkward silence for awhile as the birds chirp and the forest begins to wake up.

"So..." Dani says. "What kind of...abilties do you guys have? Besides the healing factor?"

I look over at Marina and she shrugs. I can feel the temperature dropping, knowing Marina's abilities are now active. We begin to see our breaths and frost begins glazing over nearby plants. Dani gasps in surprise and then smiles.

Marina stands up and pulls icicles up from the ground, creating a spiked fence around our camp site. Dani laughs in amazement and touches one of them.

"That is fricken cool!" she says. "A regular ice queen."

I stand up and illuminate my hands. I create fireballs in each hand and then launch them at the icicles, melting them into puddles of water.

"That is even cooler!" Dani practically screams. "What else can you guys do?"

"I can breathe underwater and see in the dark," Marina says. "I can also run at amazing speeds."

"I can talk to animals

"You said there are others like you, what can they do?" Dani says, so excited to be seeing this. It must be the most amazing spectacle she's ever seen.

"One can turn invisible," Marina says. "Another can shapeshift and teleport..."

"We all have telekinesis," I say. "Another one of us can fly,"

"Two can generate earthquakes and another can go between ages..."

"So he can like never die?" Dani asks.

"She and yes, she also has telepathy."

"What is that again?" Dani asks.

"She can project her thoughts and images into others' heads. It can also lead to mind-reading."

"Wow, you guys are amazing. You're like...what's the word..."

"Superheroes?" I offer.

"Yes, those, whatever they are."

"You mean you've never heard of superheroes?" Marina says, confused.

"Never, in Panem, we're not allowed to think creatively and any mention of someone with weird abilities were suppressed and considered enemies. The only thing, that is ever creative in this country are the freaks and their wardrobe in the Capitol and the Gamemakers with ways of killing you."

Dani begins telling us about the ways tributes have been killed in the past. Most of them make me shudder and we thought the Mogs were monsters. I don't want to finish my sandwich after Dani describes a type of snake that was so big, it could eat all of us whole. I start wondering where the Mockingjay is, it is still not back yet. I guess it is a lot of ground to cover for one tiny little bird.

We pack up and begin hiking again. There's an eerie silence that settles over all of us, making me slightly nervous. I've learned that silence is hardly golden in the Hunger Games. The last time, they sent the blazing inferno after us.

I begin wondering where the others might be. Are they looking for us too? What about the others on the outside, are they any closer to finding the arena?

We stop to rest at about mid-day, as the sun rises above. We all share the water and sit in silence. Any small sound sets me on edge.

"Where do you think the other Careers are?" Marina asks.

"Probably on the hunt again, if they've recovered from the tracker jackers," Dani answers. She then shudders. "Can't imagine the kind of visions they saw with those stings. Those things are a buzz kill,"

I smirk at her joke.

There is suddenly a deafening boom. The ground shakes. We begin looking frantically for its source.

"Guess we're a little boring to the Gamemakers," Dani says.

I look over the tree line and see smoke rising up into the sky. Whatever it was, it was big and possibly deadly.

"Should we go...?" Marina asks, standing next to me.

I want to leave, but something is drawing me towards...whatever that was.

"It could be one of the others," I say. "We'll go, but carefully."

The others follow me as we start running towards the source of the blast. I know it's risky, but one of the others might need our help. The only person I can think of who could shake the ground like that would be Adam, maybe he was forced to use his legacy for something. I just pray he's okay.

As we get close, we see rubble and ash raining down. The strong smell of smoke putrefies the air. I think about stopping... but curiosity is egging me on.

Someone runs straight into me and we both go tumbling to the ground. I'm about ready to illuminate my Lumen when I see shaggy black hair and paler than normal skin.

"Adam?" I say.

Adam shakes his hair out of his face and gasps. "John, I'm glad I found you."

I help him stand up, he's covered in dirt and looks like he just ran from something. He catches his breath.

"What was that? " Dani asks.

"It was an explosion," Adam explains.

Marina looks concerned. "The Game...?"

"No, someone just blew up the Careers' supply of food,"

"How did you..."

"I'm the one who rigged it," Adam says. "I decided to do some explosive work, I was also starving and needed food so I approached the Careers. They liked my explosives idea and kept me on."

"Why would they surround their food like that?" Dani says. "It's stupid!"

"Thank you," Adam says. "It was Cato's idea, I just thought of rigging the explosives from around the tribute platforms as booby traps, but he insisted. He's a bigger jerk than Nine and Five combined."

"Is anyone else with you?" Marina asks.

"No, but Five is with them," Adam grimaces.

I shake my head. "Don't worry about him, he's the least of our problems right now. Let him get blown up somewhere."

"Or starve to death," Marina adds.

"Who's Five...?" Dani asks.

"No time to explain, we need to move!" Adam says. "The Careers know that I rigged the charges and they might give chase,"

We pick a random direction, away from the Cornucopia and the explosion.

Once we're safe a small clearing, far away from danger...we hope. We sit and rest. We give Adam some food and he shows us the supplies he managed to swipe. Some more food, a flashlight, a blanket, some clean water and what looks like a scythe. He goes on to explain everything that happened to him. The Careers were lured away by some fake fire set by another tribute and by the time they realized it, the food stash had exploded. Adam had gone back before the others and then fled the scene, knowing Cato would unleash his vengeance if he ever caught Adam, even though it was Cato's idea. He never stuck around to see what caused the explosion, as his life was more important at that moment.

"We're glad you're safe," Marina says gently.

"So am I," Adam smiles. His eyes then focus on Daniella.

"Who's this?" he asks.

"I'm Daniella, but you can call me Dani," she says.

"We saved her from a wasp attack and she's agreed to help us," I explain.

"How can we be sure we can trust her?" Adam asks skeptically.

"They saved me life, I owe them one, plus..." she brings her voice down to a whisper. "I hate the Capitol and want to see it fall."

Adam grins with great satisfaction.

"No offense, but you're weird looking, are you an alien too?" Dani asks.

Adam nods and explains his story of betraying his own kind to help the Garde. Dani listens in fascination and nods as Marina explains that we all go by numbers, which clarifies the Five confusion.

We spend the rest of the day hiking and then we set up camp in a tree. I climb the highest and curl up ready to sleep. Dani takes the first watch. There are no images in the sky tonight, which means a tribute was not killed in the food explosion.

Once the anthem ends, I sit and wait patiently, not ready to sleep. I start wondering where the bird is. He's been gone all day and I begin to worry. Was he killed in the explosion? Did he get lost? Did he forget about his mission? I lay awake for some time into the night, scared for my little friend. I want to have faith in him and he sounded like he was willing to help us, in exchange for freedom from the arena. I can't help but feel that I am like this bird, trapped and unable to take flight, be able to fight and save what remains of this country. I want my shot at Ra, much like Nine does. It's because of him that none of us have our Cepans or family or a planet in general. I want him to pay for what he's done.

I fall sleep dreaming about ending Ra's life and exterminating the Mogadorians completely.

...

The next morning, we prepare to leave again. I'm still thinking about the bird as we begin to hike.

_Sir! Sir! SIR!_I hear above me. I look up and the same Mockingjay I met before is back. He swoops down and lands on a nearby branch.

_What is it?_ I ask, hearing the panic in his voice.

_I've found some of your friends, but one of them is in trouble!_

_Where? Who?_ I ask frantically

"Who are you...?" Dani asks.

_Follow me, Follow me there isn't much time!_ the Mockingjay says as he takes flight again.

_Wait!_ I yell after it. I turn my eyes away from him to talk to the others

"That bird found one of us and they're in trouble,"

"Where?!" Adam asks.

"He said to follow..."

I suddenly see that we're one short. Marina has vanished. I only see a flash of her brown hair before she disappears into the trees.

"Marina!" I scream. "Marina Wait!"

I begin to panic, the Mockingjay has also flown out of sight, it's just us.

"Follow Marina!" I say, going in the assumed direction that she disappeared. We begin to run.

_Why can't we stay together?!_ I moan.


	34. Chapter 33: Healing Factor

Chapter 33: Healing Factor

Marina (Number Sevens)'s POV

"The bird found one of us and they're in trouble..." John explains. I always thought it was weird that John could to talk to animals, it made him seem almost crazy, but it has come in handy at times like these.

The strange bird takes flight again and hovers above us. My heart is pounding in my ears. Someone is in trouble, I hope it's not Eight. I impulsively start running after the small bird.

"Guide me," I shout to it, panting slightly.

The small, gray bird flies forward into the woods, I do my best to keep an eye on him and not trip over anything. I can feel my speed taking over, I duck under branches and over roots. I hear John calling after me, but in many cases, time is of the essence.

We get deeper and deeper into the forest. I just hope the bird isn't guiding us towards one of the Careers.

I hear screaming, someone in desperate need of help.

"KATNISS! KATNISS!"

I hate to leave John, Adam and Dani, but someone might need our help. I've never turned down a cry for help.

I'm behind a tree when I hear a gasp of pain. I peek from around the tree and see a scene of carnage. One of the tributes is stuck in the Career's net and her stands over her, having just speared her in the stomach. My own stomach twists violently, then I see the girl from District 12 shoot the Career in the neck, most likely where his main artery was.

I'm torn at that moment to help the boy, after what he just did to the helpless tribute, but I force myself out from behind the tree.

I rush over to the boy with the arrow in his neck. I remove the object quickly and press my hands against the wound, blood spurting everywhere. I can feel my healing working hard to heal him before he dies. His pulse was barely beating at all and I'm covered in blood by the end. His breathing evens out and he starts to roll over, still unconscious.

I know immediately that he is a Career and that he attacked the other girls. He can't be trusted at any point.

I freeze his hands and feet together to make sure he won't get away. I turn to see the two girls not far from the scene of the restrained Career.

"Can you sing?" the younger one says gently.

The younger one is quite small in stature with light brown skin and thick curls surrounding her head. She has a spear in her stomach. I realize that she must have been attacked by the Career. Around the two girls are a net. The one leaning over her is whom I recognize as Katniss, the tribute from District 12. Both girls are crying, knowing the inevitable death of the younger one.

I start walking towards them, knowing I can do something.

Katniss immediately gets up and arms herself with an arrow from her quiver. She must have been the one who shot the career on the ground. She doesn't quite process everything right away and the fact that the threat is now encased in ice.

"Stay away," Katniss warns. "She may be dying, but she'll die in peace."

"I don't want to hurt her," I say honestly. "I can help her."

"How could you...?"

I look at the younger girl and I know time is of the essence.

"I don't want to fight, I just want to help."

"What help could you offer?" Katniss barks back.

"Something you wouldn't understand at the moment. Please, she's dying..."

"Take another step and you're dead," is the response.

I have no choice, but to walk forward. Katniss lets the arrow fly. I hold my hand up and stop the arrow in mid-air. The terror on her face is unimaginable, she fumbles to load again, but I shove her off balance and she drops the bow. She's trying to keep calm, but she's scared beyond belief. I force the bow out of her reach.

I'm forced to freeze Katniss where she stands, I rush over to the other girl.

"Don't touch her!" Katniss yells. She fights against the ice, but at this point is helpless and can't interfere. "Don't touch her get away from her!"

Despite Katniss' yelling, I talk softly to the girl.

"It's okay..." I assure her. "I'm going to help you."

The girl can't really respond and she is close to death. With all my strength, I remove the spear from her stomach. I immediately put my hands on her stomach. I focus the hardest I have ever done. The chill comes off my spine, meaning that there is still hope for her. I will myself to keep going, knowing that she will live. My healing kneads her stomach back together and restores her breathing. Her eyes go up to me in utter amazement and she shows a small smile.

When I was done I take my hands off.

"You okay?" I ask gently.

She smiles, eyes filled with tears. "Yes...Thank you," she says softly.

I grab her hand and pull her to her feet. Katniss is now silent, in shock or otherwise confused.

"Rue?" she says exasperatedly.

"I'm okay now Katniss," she says.

Katniss immediately fights to get to free and I know it's to see Rue. I release her from the ice and go to reinforce the cuffs on the Career. Katniss embraces Rue, sobbing the whole way. I stand near the imprisoned boy, making sure he doesn't move anywhere.

The two girls turn to me.

_Here come the questions..._I think to myself.

"Who are you?" Rue asks.

"Marina, and I am an alien from a distant planet."

"Why are you here?" Katniss asks, going for her bow again.

Before I can answer the Career boy wakes up.

"What the hell?" he yells. He looks at his hands and immediately struggles to get free. I have a good mind to freeze his mouth shut.

"Did you do that?" Rue asks.

"Yes," I say softly. "I can also do this."

I use my telekinesis to lift Katniss' bow back to her. She is hesitant to grab it from mid air but accepts it.

"What do you want?" Katniss asks.

"To start a war," I say grimly. "Your president and our enemy are working together to exterminate us."

"Us?!" Katniss asks in horror. "There...there are more of you?"

"Eleven to be exact," I answer.

"Can you all...?"

"We all have different abilities," I say looking up at the sky. Daylight is fading and we need to regroup with the others. "We don't have time for this, we need to find the others."

"WE?!" Katniss scoffs.

"You want to get out of here alive don't you?" I ask. "We're the way out."

Katniss' eyes go wide and her mouth hangs open. She contemplates what I just said. Rue too is quiet. the only noises are from the struggling Career on the ground. I really want to tranquilize him, knowing that we're going to have to let him go. I doubt he will actually join us, which is fine, we don't need him.

At the same time, he could be useful as a prisoner for the moment. If Christina can see the good others, why can't I? I release his leg bonds and he immediately kicks at me, realizing his mobility again. He struggles to break his hand bonds too.

I pull him up by the arm, keeping his cuffs solid. He jolts against me in anger and tries to bite me. I push him against a tree.

"Listen bub...the next few minutes could decide the rest of your life. I just saved you from certain death that could easily come again if you keep on the same path you're going."

He spits at me in ignorance, I brush it off and collar him.

"You owe me your life. I didn't have to save your sorry ass, but I did because I'm not a killer. I'm a fighter and a good one at that. I am not the enemy and I know for sure that you are not the enemy. The enemy is something a lot greater and deadlier than any of you put together and a hell of a lot stronger. These so-called Games are nothing compared to the war ahead. People will die unless we do something. It's your choice whether you want to fight or run away like a scared little kid. Your fighting skills are useful, you just need to channel them differently."

He still refuses to make eye contact, but I can tell I'm breaking through a little bit. His struggling is less, either from exhaustion or the acceptance that he can't fight me...us.

"You can either be free or be the Capitol's puppet, which will more likely get you killed faster. So you decide what side you're on."

I turn back, leaving him against the tree and go towards Katniss and Rue. I hear him yell in anger and I turn to see him charging at me, cuffed hands raised trying to use them to club me. I use my Cryokinesis and freeze him where he stands. Again he struggles and continues to yell.

I turn to the girls while he has his tantrum. He begins yelling obscenities at me, struggling. He's got a thick head and a stubborn ego for sure.

I stand in front of the females, eyes locked and time seems to stop. We're all quiet as we contemplate our decisions.

I look down to see a burn on Katniss' leg. I kneel down, reach over and heal it instantly. She shivers in my touch but doesn't move away. When I'm done, I stand up again. Katniss' eyes lock on me.

"Thank you." she whispers.

She stops. "Can you fix my ear as well?"

She leans forward and I place my hand there. The icy cold spreads up from my spine and to the side of her head. I think she ruptured her eardrum, from what I don't know, but my healing fixes it.

I pull my hand away.

"Thank you," she says.

There is a pause.

"You ready to be free?" I ask her.

She stops.

"We just want out of here..." Katniss begins. "We want no part in your war. We have families at home..."

I cut her off. "Your families are already in danger. We need you... If we can take out Snow and Ra you'll be free and fewer lives will be lost. No matter what you do, your families are at risk." I pause. "You have a chance to make a change, free your country and put those skills to use."

The two look at each other and shake their heads. I can tell they don't want to be a part of it, but war is unavoidable. I can't force them to do anything...so much for allies.

"We can't win this war without an army, but if that's what you want...that's fine. You can at least help us get out. You can do that can't you?"

Katniss takes out an arrow and locks it into her bow.

"Definitely."

I look over at Rue. Her curious and timid eyes suddenly become strong and she stands up straighter than before. She's gone from helpless victim to warrior in a heartbeat. She reminds me of Ella, small, but packing a punch. She reaches down and grabs the spear that almost killed her and wields it like an expert.

"Me too," Rue says with a yell in her voice.

"Marina!" I hear behind me. I realize that I left the group behind.

Katniss tries to arm herself and Rue raises the spear.

"It's okay," I say, putting my arm up. "

John races up to me followed my Dani and Adam. I can see John's face, he looks ready to slap me.

"What the hell were thinking?!" John barks at me. "Why did you run off like that?!"

"I had to help someone," I explain, stepping aside so he can see Katniss and Rue. "I'm sorry John, I didn't mean to scare everyone, but someone needed my help."

"Just don't do that again, you scared us half to death," John pants trying to catch his breath. "We need to stay together."

"I know," I say gently. "I'm sorry again."

I look over at Katniss who is staring at our group. She can obviously tell that Adam is not human, not at all. However, she looks more interested in Dani.

"Wait..." she says, her eyes squinting. "Weren't you with the Careers?"

Dani nods. "Not anymore, I'm with them. But you were the one who dropped the nest right?"

Katniss turns red. "Yes, I did. But in my defense, you were trying to kill me. I also didn't have any weapons and I was injured. I think it made us even," I expect Katniss to apologize, but she doesn't.

Dani goes over abruptly and punches Katniss in the jaw, catching all of us completely off guard. Katniss keels over in shock and then Dani stands back. She has a slight smirk on her face.

"Now, we're even," Dani says with a satisfied grin, she then walks back over behind Adam.

Katniss stands back up, I can see the surprise and rage in her eyes but then she looks at Rue and then me. I shake my head, telling her not to worry about it, there is enough conflict as it is.

"We're cool now Katniss," Dani says. "I don't hold grudges. Besides, these guys saved me and I know there are much bigger problems to deal with."

The night is beginning to fall over the arena, the crickets are beginning to chirp and the breeze is picking up, casting a chill in the air. I know we have to keep going, we need to find the others. The gray bird that led me to the scene swoops down and lands on John's shoulder.

"John, this is Katniss and Rue, they're going to help us..." I explain.

"Is he one of you?" Rue asks.

"Yes, I am," John answers for me.

"What can you do?" Rue asks.

John illuminates his hand up and then form into a fireball. His eyes land on Katniss and I think there is recognition from either in the parade or the interviews.

"Need a spark girl on fire?"


	35. Chapter 34: It Begins

Chapter 34: It Begins

Christina (Number Ten's) POV

I wake up out of the vision, feeling warm and comfortable, but that may just be from the fire. Ella and I did a good job bringing the others together, even if it was only in our minds. I was happy to see Blake and also discovering a new component of my telepathy, but again my heart sinks when I think about Ella. Being held by Ra and he seems to be poisoning her with some kind of black liquid. There are so many questions that I want to be answered, but neither Ella or anyone else had the answers. If only I could get into Ra's head.

I shudder at the thought.

_Could I?_ I think. I could get into Ella's and Ra was able to do the same to me, John, Nine, Eight etc.

_It's time someone scared him a little bit_. I think to myself.

I close my eyes and concentrate. I know it will be harder to get into Ra's head than it was with Ella. I want to experiment with my telepathy, see how far it can go.

I'm in darkness. It is absolutely silent, the only thing I can hear is my heartbeat. I picture the despicable man in my mind, at least how I last saw him. I concentrate.

My heart beat intensifies as I travel through what feels like black smoke, thick and impenetrable. There is little, light to see anything, but I push on. My brain begins to hurt, badly. it feels like I'm fighting against an avalanche of snow or a stampede of elephants. I focus on my breathing as much as possible. Clearly, Ra doesn't want me in his head. I hear voices around me, dark voices, demonic in nature. I can't be afraid, not anymore.

I begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel of black smoke. I push the hardest I ever had, forcing myself into this white light. There is heat around me now, my entire body burns as if I'm on fire. I'm fighting against strong, wind with intent to tear me apart.

_You will not keep me out!_ I growl in my head. I gasp for air and give one more intense push towards the light.

I open my eyes, I'm in a war room. Many computers blink around me, a lot of them more advanced than any others I've seen. My head is throbbing from fighting so hard, but now it is worth it. I slowly walk around, knowing that I am merely a visitor in his head, he can't see me. I go up to a 3 dimensional model of what looks like a dome with rocks, trees, rivers, and various terrains. I see eight blinking lights on the inside, all of them scattered. It takes me a moment to realize that this is us. Ra is watching us, having information about The Games and the trackers in our arms. I look down at the black thing around my upper arm. I dig my nails in a desperate attempt to remove it. These trackers are our weakness, it's to Ra's advantage that he knows where we are at all times. I look around at all the other computers, many of blinking on charts. I see the forms of what look like space ships hovering.

_So this is all he thinks about?_ I wonder to myself. _About the invasion_

_Certainly_, a voice answers.

My heart stops and I turn around. I see a lone figure standing at a window. His black form blocks out the stars around him. I see the purple scar and I know who it is. I clench my fists and remind myself that this is a vision, he can't see, hear or feel anything, even if I want to rip his head off, but who just said that?

Ra suddenly turns as if he can see me.

"Welcome Aralia..." he says with a toothy grin. "Welcome to my humble abode."

I swallow hard. I can't show fear in front of him.

"Not so easy to get into the master's head is it?" he smiles.

"You call yourself a master..." I hiss angrily. "You're a monster."

"You flatter me."

"Let Ella go!" I yell at him. It takes all my strength not to run over and punch him "She may be your granddaughter but she'll never join you."

"A little persuasion may be in order."

"If you hurt her..."

"Why would I? We're family and I love her."

"You have a pretty twisted way of showing it!" I snap at him. "You're poisoning and torturing her."

"I'm making her better. Making improvements and giving her things that Lorien could not."

"Why would she need you? She's pretty powerful on her own."

"Not right now is she? Able to be trapped in a nightmare..."

"You ambushed her!" I yell. "You got her when she was vulnerable."

"Like I will with all of you..." he hisses with a smile.

The scenery suddenly changes. Everything clouds over with dark and threatening clouds. They become a dark arena, much like a hockey arena, with seats, all which are empty. The floor is platinum tiles and the clouds loom above the opening of the arena. Ra stands on a podium, high above me, showing his superiority. He raises his one hand and a section of the platinum floor opens to reveal a wall with a figure on it. I see Blake chained to the wall. He's bleeding badly and limp. I can feel tears in my eyes and my throat closing up. This is all too familiar, he's done this before and he will do it again to torture me, to break me. I can't fall for it again.

I know this isn't real, but Ra has taken control. I want to pull out, I need to escape or I'll be trapped like Ella was.

"You can't do that now," Ra chuckles. "You wanted to see the inside of Pandora's box, now you cannot escape."

My heart races. I can feel tears in my eyes. I'm trapped. I'll be left for some tribute to come and gut me.

Ra raises his jeweled cane and it morphs into a long golden whip, the same one he had back when we were all reunited, the one that almost killed Sarah and Ella and could turn bodies to black rock like he did with Six.

He thrusts it forward, I try to dodge it, but my movements are slow here. My power is not enough now that Ra's taken over. The hot end of the whip grazes my left arm, causing it to be cut. The pain is excruciating, I feel my arm become heavy as the black rock begins to come out of the cut, spreading across my arm like cancer.

Ra throws the whip forward again, I manage to dodge is completely this time, but it's hard with the black rock on my arm weighing me down. I know my legacies are gone, just like before. I'm on my own.

Ra laughs manically at me, lashing at me again and again. It's as if I'm a monkey he's trying to train. His laughter is so demonic and so evil, that I want to try and strangle him.

"You can't dodge me forever," he laughs.

"Just watch me!" I shout bravely.

I know I can't keep this up. I'm going to be weakened. I can't fight him alone... My fear is his strength. He has great power, he's a lot stronger than me and many legacies. He has everything he needs to dominate and win. He can do whatever he wants to me

_Think Christina, what would Ra's weakness be? What do you have that he doesn't_

_The one thing that Ra doesn't have and never will have... Love!_

The arena shakes slightly and the vision becomes fuzzy, like on a TV set. The whip suddenly hits my left ankle...only nothing happens.

The arena shakes again, a lot stronger than before. Ra's grin fades slightly. I notice I'm beginning to fade out. The black rock begins to crumble slightly from His attacks on me aren't working. He can't cause me physical harm anymore.

"That can't be...!" he hisses

"You can't hurt me!" I yell. I picture all of the Garde with me. Those I love, those who have passed on and those here and now. My baby sister, my parents, my grandparents. John, Sarah, Sam, Nine, Eight, Marina, Ella, One, Two, Adam, Three, Six, Mark... my brother...Blake...

"Lorien is more powerful than you will ever be! You may take our planet, but you will not take its soul" I shout. "Because we have the one thing you don't..."

The arena is now crumbling, the weak figure of Blake is gone and the tiles beneath our feet is cracking, revealing the earth under it. I can see all the Garde with me now, all our eyes and pendants glowing strongly. We raise our hands and lift Ra like he's a rag doll into the air. His shape twists and his scar glows the brightest it ever has.

"United as one!" I yell. "You will never conquer us!"

I feel very powerful, the vision fades further and I can feel myself floating up into the sky, away from Ra's limp form on the floor of the crumbling arena.

"I may not be able to conquer you, but there is another planet that is available," his voice echoes as I vanish.

There's a sonic boom before I open my eyes.

...

_John, where are you?_ I ask him telepathically. I'm awake now, slightly weakened by the vision, but okay enough. I've packed my things. I can't keep hiding behind here, I need to find the others and maybe a few allies. I want John to signal with his Lumen to bring everyone together, but he's not answering. Maybe my telepathy is a little weak since my battle with Ra.

I climb above the waterfall and begin following the river, hoping that I might find someone nearby.

I enjoy the sunshine as it peeks through the trees. It's such a beautiful sight, it's too bad that all of this in a Death Arena.

I'm walking along when I see what seems to be a trail of blood. I start to worry if it's one of the others...

I follow the droplets along the river bank until they stop completely.

I suddenly hear noises behind me. I turn around but I don't see anything. My heart is pounding in my ears. I know someone is there

I hear someone's thoughts. Someone close by... a boy... It's weak and rather helpless. It's wounded... He's scared and alone, very close to death. I need a name, to identify him. That's when I hear...

_Katniss_

Peeta Mellark, the baker's boy from District 12, the one who loves Katniss. We had a moment after the parade where I tried to connect to him. He can be a good ally, that is until I find out how badly he's injured. He got into a fight with Cato shortly after the fire and some kind of wasp attack... Tracker Jackers I think. Peeta was caught trying to help Katniss escape and Cato wounded him badly, high up on the leg. He needs Marina and John's help if he's going to survive.

"Peeta?" I ask, calling into the area. "Peeta Mellark?"

Silence.

"Peeta it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you, I want to help you..." I know I don't sound very reassuring, this is the Hunger Games after all and allies turn on each other very quickly.

I continue walking by the river, I kick some of the dirt away.

"Peeta, I know you're hurt and you're looking for Katniss... I know you love her..."

Blue eyes appear from the dirt beneath my feet. I take a step back in shock and then I realize the camouflage lessons offered really do work. He's virtually invisible to the naked eye. I kneel down to him.

"Who are you?" he asks.

"I'm Christina..." I say gently. "Christina Walton."

"How did you know I was here?"

"I don't have time to explain. You're hurt aren't you?"

"How did you...?"

It's really weird to be basically talking to the ground. He's covered in mud and leaves, twigs, all sculpted perfectly to be disguised in the ground.

I quickly think up an excuse. "I saw the trail of blood you left, plus camouflage is usually the last defense of the dying."

I kneel down.

"Need a hand?" I ask.

"Yes please..." Peeta says.

"You were hurt that badly huh?"

Peeta gives me a small smile. "I don't have a lot of strength left."

"Well, I have tons," I say with confidence. Even with the lack of food in my system, I am pretty strong.

Peeta's mucky hand slowly rises out of the mud. I grab it and without much effort, I'm able to free him from the plants, roots, rocks, clay and dirt that enclosed him in the spot.

I can tell Peeta is impressed with my strength.

"Can you move to the water?" I ask, figuring he should be cleaned off.

Peeta shakes his head no.

"I can't, I'm really sorry," he says.

I ignore his apology and put my arm under his legs and lift his back. He gasps in pain and I try to be as slow and as careful as possible. He is a well-built boy, making him heavy, but I've lifted slabs of concrete that were much heavier. I place him in the shallows of the water. He gasps at the sudden coldness.

"Sorry..." I apologize. "But time is of the essence."

"How did you..."

I begin scrubbing his jacket and washing his pants off. I can see the tear in the fabric where he was hit by Cato. I read his thoughts to find out how. When they were attacked by tracker jacker wasps, they were all fleeing to the lake, all being stung in the process. At the last minute, Peeta went back to get something, fortunately, the wasps were following the others. He saw Katniss back at the tree, trying to get the bow and arrows from Glimmer, who was stung very badly and was close to death. Despite his state, Peeta forced her to run, but the consequence of that was that Cato saw him, who also went back for his sword. Cato realized what Peeta was doing and attacked him. the two boys fought, but Cato was obviously stronger and got the upper hand. He slashed Peeta in the leg before Peeta managed to take off in a delusional state. Cato didn't pursue. Peeta forced himself as far as he could possibly go in such a horrific and wounded situation. He ended up passing out and having horrible visions due to the venom of the tracker jackers. His hallucinations ended early due to the pain he was in. He woke up, bleeding badly, his wound did not clot as easily. He pushed towards the river for food. He tried to cover his tracks so he couldn't be followed, which explained the blood smears I found as if someone was trying to wipe them away. When he reached the river, he tried cleaning his cut, but to no avail. By then, he had more or less accepted his fate and decided to die in private. He camouflaged himself and was like that for days.

"How did you do that...?" Peeta asks, really shocked. "I must weigh like...I don't know..."

"I have enhanced strength..." I explain. I begin washing the layers of mud off his face. His hair has taken on a gray look being in the ground for so long.

I tell Peeta our entire story as I clean him off. His eyes become wider and wider as every detail of our fight against the Mogadorians is explained. I can tell he's confused and a little scared. To realize that the world is not what you thought it was and the fact that there is an intergalactic war occurring around you, it's a lot to take in. I let him interrupt me whenever he wants to, I'm very patient about it.

"So there are others like you?" Peeta asks as I drag him out of the water onto the muddy bank.

"Ten others, to be exact," I say. I use a knife and cut open his pant leg to examine his wound.

I nearly lose my lunch when I see it. It's disgusting and definitely infected.

"How bad is it?" Peeta asks.

"I won't sugar coat it, but Marina and John can fix it, they have healing abilities," I explain. "The only problem is, how I'm going to get you to them. We're all scattered around the arena."

I try my telepathy again.

_John! Marina! I need you here, I've got a wounded ally_._ I'm down by the river bank_

Nothing.

Suddenly, there is snapping of twigs and rustling of leaves. I'm praying its one of the others, that they heard my message until I hear heavy footsteps, a lot heavier than any I know of.

_Oh, gawd it's Cato!_ I think to myself. I know I have to protect Peeta at all costs and I can surely hold my own, but I don't want to fight, let alone kill.

A tall figure emerges from behind some tall brush and comes toward us.

It's Thresh.

I stand up to protect Peeta. I am scared...very scared. I've taken on Mogs before, a lot bigger and more armed than me, but they're monsters. Unthinking machines. This is a human being, a tough human being, someone who doesn't deserve it.

"Thresh..." I say in a calm voice. I feel like I'm talking to a caged animal that is about to be unleashed. My mind is racing to think about how to calm him and maybe get him to help us. "Please, I don't want to hurt you and I know you don't want to hurt me. My friend, one of my friends saved Rue from certain death. There are others like me, who can help you. Help you get out of the arena and back to your family. To your grandma and sister..."

Thresh steps back in surprise, he grunts in confusion. I can tell he's hesitant to trust anyone, which is understandable.

"My friend Marina can help him, she's the one who saved Rue, but I can't move him alone."

Thresh glares at me.

"She helps boy?" Thresh asks.

"Yes, and when she does, we can all escape," I say nervously. "We don't need to fight each other..."

_Just Mogs..._

Thresh frowns again, I can see him flush a shade of red.

"Please..." I say to him. "You can see your sister and grandmother again."

I squint really hard and I think I can see tears in his eyes. He has a large rock that he must use as a weapon. I take another step back to give him space.

I read Thresh's thoughts. He looks at us with sympathy, but he is confused. He assumes we might be tricking him to lower his guard, but he sees that neither of us are armed or want to engage with him.

He sets the rock down and takes a step towards me.

"See my sister again?" Thresh whispers.

I nod and smile. I see him smile too.

I suddenly grimace. I see flashes of things. Hovercrafts and spaceships descending from the sky. Fire and chaos...death

I kneel down to rest from being overwhelmed.

"What is it?" Peeta asks.

"The war...the Peacekeepers..."

_John!_ I tell him. _We need your Lumen in the sky, we need to meet, now!_

I hear nothing at first. My heart is pounding loudly, but slowly there's a humming coming from below us. The ground begins to vibrate.

There are a loud boom and the entire ground shakes. Thresh is nearly thrown off balance and I cling to Peeta and make sure he's okay.

I hear in my head.

_It's beginning..._


	36. Chapter 35: Eye of the Storm

Chapter 35: Eye of the Storm

Katniss' POV

"Katniss! Katniss help me!"

My eyes fly open. I'm lying on the forest floor, the sun's rays are beating down on me, practically blinding me. I sit upright. I'm still in the arena. My heart is pounding loudly, I don't know where that scream came from and it sounds so familiar.

"Katniss where are you?!"

The scream echoes through the forest. It's like the call of a banshee. I turn in desperation, trying to find who's calling me.

"KATNISS!"

It's Rue's voice. The same distressed voice I heard when she was caught in that net yesterday. I'm running as fast as my legs can carry me towards the sounds of distress. My heart is pounding in my ears. I'm sweating in my jacket so hard I just might pass out from dehydration. I'm pushing my body in desperation to find my ally. I follow the echo.

"KATNISS!"

"Rue!" I yell out. "Rue where are you?"

"Please, Katniss...!" I hear the fear in her voice, it turns my blood ice cold.

I reach a clearing with an unlit fire. I see Rue tangled in a net. She's screaming desperately, struggling to get free. I can practically see the tears in her eyes. I see a dark figure looming over Rue. She's trapped in the same net like before, only instead of the boy from District 1 standing over her, it's someone else... something else.

This...thing has blank, white eyes, soulless eyes. He's a lot taller than any human I've ever seen. He's bald with large black tattoos on his scalp and long clam like fingers. He clutches a long sword that seems to glow. When he sees me, he grins, showing his row of shark-like teeth. This thing is not human...it might be those aliens the other guys are trying to fight. whatever their called Magadorins or something. They are numbers guys' problem, not ours. This is exactly why I don't want to be part of their war.

I bravely face the creature head on, but when our eyes meet, I see a lot more than I bargained for.

I see Prim's face, beaten and bloodied, her face is pale, contrasting the wounds on her face. She's laying on the ground, clutching her chest which is also soaked in blood. Her blue eyes crying out to me. A trickle of blood comes from her mouth as she tries to tell me something before she's swallowed into darkness.

I then see my mother, she lies very still, her neck broken and blood pooling under her head, soaking her blonde hair, dying it red. Her eyes glazed over, much like they were when our father died, only more lifeless and clearly having seen unspeakable horrors before dissolving into nothing.

Gale runs towards me, he's bleeding from the mouth and his face is black and blue.

"Run Katniss!" he screams. He grabs onto me and shakes me so hard I think I might get a concussion. "Run for your life!"

"GALE!" I begin before he vanishes before my very eyes.

"RUN!" I see Peeta come from behind me and practically shove me forward.

"Katniss go, what are you doing?! Go!" he insists. This is the same vision as before, just after the tracker jacker attack. His pale, blue eyes almost hypnotize me until I see them start to cry blood.

I somehow manage to tear my eyes away from this creature. I refocus and see that I'm not armed at all. I can't protect Rue. The creature raises his sword above his bald head that's glistening in the sunlight and brings it down on the struggling figure of Rue.

"NO!" I scream out. I try to run towards them but my feet aren't working. I can feel tears running down my face.

"Katniss...Katniss wake up."

I jolt awake in my sleeping bag. It takes me a full minute for me to realize where I am again. I suddenly see brown eyes staring at me and I practically fall from the tree in fright. Fortunately, my belt keeps me in place. I blink a few times realizing it's Rue.

"Are you okay?" Rue asks. "You were screaming in your sleep."

I wipe the sweat from my face and take a few seconds to catch my breath. I look down to see the other aliens on the ground already, staring up at me. I suddenly become very self-conscious realizing my nightmares must have caused quite the scene. I flush a shade of red.

"Would you like some water?" Rue asks, she offers a bottle.

I take a long sip to settle my dry throat and take a few more deep breaths to calm the adrenaline racing through my blood. I find Rue's gentle voice and soft brown eyes slightly comforting. She and I shared the sleeping bag last night and she curled up to me, happy and content. I could tell at one point that she shook from fear. Probably because she almost died yesterday, but the girl... Marina had healed her somehow. They used these weird abilities...legacies I think they called them, gifts from their home planet that made them much more powerful. They explained to Rue and me the war that has been raging on since they were kids and how President Snow was working with this invasion overlord named Ra to rig the games and attempt to get rid of them. I was told that there are eleven of them in total, plus their other freakish alien friend from the enemy species and some human allies as well. It was a lot to take in and made my head ache. I can't say I trust them at all, but they haven't used their powers to kill us yet and one of them saved Rue and fixed my ear, so they might be worth sticking close too. They might be our safest bet out of the arena. They told me of their plan to literally destroy the arena and bring the fight to the Capitol.

Rue and I agreed that we only wanted to escape the arena and find a way home. We didn't want any part of their war, we just wanted to see our families again.

"Hey Katniss," the blonde boy, John calls up to me. All the other aliens and tributes are already up and eating on the ground. "Are you okay?"

I turn red again. I basically had a breakdown in front of aliens. I've never felt so embarrassed.

"Yeah...uh... nightmares..."

John nods and gives me a bit of a knowing smile as if he knows exactly what I'm talking about. "Well, there's food down for you."

"Thanks..." I say. I roll up my sleeping bag and pack my pack as Rue hops from one tree to the next with ease.

"You're pretty fast," John says impressed.

"I had to learn how since I grew up in the Agriculture district. We had to learn to pick fruit quickly and efficiently," Rue says. "Since I'm small, I'm able to reach higher than most people."

"Would you like to be our lookout?" John asks as I climb down from the tree. I see the healing girl, Marina, hand me an apple, some dried beef, and a sandwich. I sit under the tree next to Dani, the girl from District 4 and eat in silence, happy to have some fresh food in my system.

"Sure," Rue says. "And We can signal using my tune, watch..."

Rue then hums her four-note tune, the one that told her she was safe into the trees. Almost immediately the Mockingjays pick up on it tune and the soft melody echoes through the trees.

"That's the tune we used back at home to signal the work day is over," Rue explains. "The Mockingjays are good signals."

"Yes they are," Marina says. "Believe it or not, it was a Mockingjay that led me to you guys."

I snort at this, knowing birds are not smart enough to do things like that, but Rue is actually curious. She clambers down from some of the higher branches and perches herself on a low hanging one to listen better.

"Really? How?" she asks.

"One of my abilities is I'm able to talk to animals," John explains. " I talked to a Mockingjay and asked him to go out in search of the other Garde... that is our other allies. He must've thought you guys were allies and came in search of us."

"Well we are your allies," Rue says with a small smile.

"Until we can get out of the arena," I add quickly.

"Right," John nods. I can actually see the disappointment on his face after I say this. What does he expect? Neither Rue nor I have freakish alien powers and this isn't our war in the first place. Our families are more important than anything else. I do have to admit to myself, I'm actually happy that we might actually get out of this arena alive. These guys may be weird, but they can help us escape.

I take another bite of the sandwich, so happy to have my stomach full again. I never thought that these guys would be hunters at all, but they might be good thieves.

"Where'd you get all this stuff?" I ask quietly, looking at the ground.

"I stole from the Careers before their food pile blew up," Marina explains, confirming my suspicions.

"I was the one who set the charges around the food, but I'm not sure who triggered it," the black haired guy who looks a lot more like an alien than the others said.

I swallow some of my sandwich before I answer. "That was actually me," I say.

"You blew up the food supply?!" he gasps. "How?"

I take one of my arrows out of my quiver and load into my bow.

"There was a bag of apples hanging among the supplies. I used my arrows to tear the bag and..."

"When they landed, they exploded on the mines, brilliant!" he says. He actually smiles at me, looking impressed.

"Thanks," I mumble. "I'm pretty good with a bow."

"Who's idea was that anyways?" Dani says. "Didn't they know it would run the risk of blowing up and destroying all the food?"

"It was Cato's idea," the guy says. "I tried to reason with him, but the guy's so sociopathic that you can't reason with him at all."

"He's the self-proclaimed leader of the group," Dani adds. "I hope someone kills him soon."

"He wouldn't join us that's for sure," John says. "But he's the least of our problems."

"So where do we go from here?" I ask.

"We need to track down the others," John explains. "And once we're all together, we need to find our way to the edge of the arena. Once we're there, Three, one of our guys, will control the electric current, creating a weak spot that Adam, here, will create an earthquake that will crack the arena open like an egg."

"If One is on the other side, she can create earthquakes as well, with the two opposing forces, we'll be able to destroy the arena," Adam finishes.

"From there we take the war to Ra," John says.

"And save Ella," Marina adds.

I have no idea who this Ella is, but I assume she's another one of them. Maybe she was captured in the war. I have to admit that I'm actually impressed on how well thought out their plan is, they are going to use their weird strengths to open the arena and set the captives free. From there, it will just be me and Rue. My heart starts pounding when I think about what we're going to do once we're free. We have no way of getting back to our districts and if there's going to be a war... What are we going to do to survive or... anything? What about my mother and Prim? Gale even? They definitely couldn't survive and intergalactic war. I know we have to get going soon, I have to protect my family.

"It's weird Christina hasn't gotten in touch with me yet," John says.

"How can she get in touch with you?" Rue asks.

"She's telepathic, meaning she can project her thoughts into other people's minds, she can also hear other people's thoughts."

I shudder slightly, I'm wondering how violating that would be. I hope we don't run into Christina before she has a chance to read my thoughts.

"We should probably get going," Marina says, picking the bag of food up.

"Where?" I ask in a flat tone.

"Towards the edge of the arena," John says. "Hopefully Christina will get in touch with me soon and tell the others to do the same."

"I wouldn't put all my plans on hope," I mutter.

"Hope is what keeps us going Katniss," John says sternly. "If you've lost hope, you've lost everything." He turns up to Rue. "Rue, can you climb up and see if you can see at least part of the arena?"

"Sure," Rue chirps. She immediately begins climbing upwards into the higher branches, I watch her go so quickly, like a little squirrel.

Once Rue is practically at the top of the tree, she looks out.

"I can see the Cornucopia from here. It's about two miles east. There's nothing but woods south of here. It's hard to tell where the..."

The ground begins to shake. We're all caught off guard, so much so that it takes a lot of effort not to fall over. I grab onto the tree trunk to prevent myself from falling over.

Very soon it stops.

"What the hell was that?" Dani asks.

"Adam?" Marina asks.

"It wasn't me,"

"What..."

The ground shakes more violently this time, it's so hard it's as if we're in a rocking boat on a stormy sea or the arena is like a snowglobe and we've just been shaken.

"KATNISS!" I hear above me. My heart drops and I look up in a panic. The earthquake has rocked Rue right out of the tree. She's clinging onto a weak branch for dear life.

"Oh my god!" I say. I scramble to the tree, planning to climb it and help her, but yet another tremor knocks me off balance and onto the ground, away from the tree and Rue.

"HELP!" Rue's screams echo in my ears as I'm sure these are the last sounds I will hear from her. Tears burn in my eyes, I was too late to save her...

Except I don't hear the thud of a body hitting the ground. I look up to see John has his hands up and Rue is floating in mid-air. She has tears streaming down her face from the fear of almost plummeting to her death. Slowly, John brings his hands down, guiding Rue until she's safely on the ground. I immediately get up and hug her. My heart is pounding in my ears and I burst into tears, clinging to Rue. This is the second time I almost lost her in two days. I was going to protect her and I can't even do that.

There's a loud boom overhead that tears me violently back to reality. It sounds like a mine shaft explosion, like the one that took my father from this world. I cling to Rue tightly.

"It's Christina," John hollers, as the world seems to change around us.

A cold chill runs up my spine. The wind has picked up significantly and the bright day has now become dark and gray like it's about to rain. Thunder rumbles in the distance, I'm so confused, my head is spinning and throbbing as the wind whips my braid around. Rue clings to me in fear as she looks up at the graying sky.

"She says the invasion has begun."

My heart is threatening to break my rib cage. I think of my sister, helpless in District 12 as these alien freaks attack Earth, hell-bent on full destruction.

"Where is she?" Marina screams.

"She can't say right now, but she says she has a guy named Peeta and Thresh with her!"

My heart suddenly stops when I hear the name Peeta. So he is alive, and he's with some of the others. I feel some relief flood my body, knowing he's okay.

"She says he's wounded and needs us. She wants me to signal all of us together."

"What about this storm do think it's..." Adam stops.

"SIX!" John screams. "Six is signaling us. She must be in trouble."

I look up at the storm as ice cold rain comes pouring down onto us. Lightning flashes around us, practically blinding us in the process. I'm thinking that this must be something the Gamemakers are putting together, but it's too strong and from the way, the others are talking indicates one of their friends is doing it.

"We need to follow to the center of the storm!" John calls out. Rue still clings to me and she's so small that I'm afraid she might blow away in the wind. It's becoming almost as dark as night and the icy cold rain slithers down my neck and soaks me to the bone.

John's hands suddenly light up with a strong blue light.

"Follow me, and hurry!" he yells out to us.

Marina and Adam immediately begin rushing towards wherever the storm is coming from. I'm frozen in place as the rain makes it harder and harder to see. I don't want to go towards whatever is happening, I'd rather find shelter for me and Rue. I suddenly feel a strong arm around my wrist.

"Come on!" Dani screams. "This might be our only chance to escape."

I want to squirm out of Dani's grip, but she's strong. She begins dragging me along, Rue holding onto my other hand tightly. We're following the fading blue light of John's hands as we head towards the eye of this storm. I squint desperately, trying to make out anything. The rain makes everything slippery, I do my best to make sure I don't slide away. Rue slips a few times before she gains her footing, she uses me as support. We weave through the trees, over roots and around puddles, my heart throbbing in my throat. This entire time, Dani keeps a firm grip on me, guiding me forward as if I'm blind. I feel so helpless, but I do my best to remain unafraid.

We eventually see the bright blue light of John's hands have stopped. Dani pulls the two of us forward until we're in the clearing of the Cornucopia. It's here that I take in the scene.

The hovercraft that is supposed to be collecting bodies is being thrown around in this massive storm, quite often being struck by lightning. The clouds above us are so dark, that at one point it resembles a face, like an old man with a beard. The wind is whipping so hard I'm almost knocked over. I take shelter behind a tree and actually end up dragging Dani with me as she seems mesmerized by the storm. Behind the tree, there's less wind and rain and I'm able to actually see what's happening more clearly. In the center of the storm is a girl with long black hair which is whipping in the winds she is creating, there are several other figures around the golden Cornucopia. I can only pick out John amongst them with his glowing hands. The lake has also overflowed significantly most likely from the rain, flooding the field, but not around where John and the girl controlling all this stands.

"John! John!" I hear behind me. I turn to see three figures coming towards us. My heart drops and I fumble for my bow, ready to attack until I hear Rue call out.

"Thresh!"

Sure enough, a young girl, about my age with brown hair, pulled back into a ponytail comes walking towards us, followed by a large dark skinned boy who towers over everyone. The boy seems to be carrying someone, I realize who it is.

"Peeta!" I blurt out.

The patch of blonde hair looks up and I see those blue eyes. I can't help but smile. I do have mixed feelings about seeing him. He was first distant from me, then we allied together, then he wanted to train alone, then he proclaimed his love for me, then he allied with the Careers and then he saved me after the Tracker Jacker attack... I think I see a smile on his face as Thresh approaches us.

"Hey sweetheart," Peeta says weakly as Thresh places him against a tree. Rue rushes over and hugs Thresh like a sister would hug a brother. I can't tell if he's smiling or not, but he pats Rue's head affectionately. I turn my attention back to Peeta. I'm shocked about how bad he looks, still a bit dirty, thin and apparently wounded. I immediately lean down next to him. "Long time no see."

"Now's not the time for joking," I say to him. He looks up at me with an odd half-smile. I'm so taken aback by his blue eyes that I lean in in concern. He then pulls me in and kisses me.

I want to push back but his lips are so soft that I don't to... My heart hits overdrive in confusion as a gust of wind interrupts us. I'm speechless and I have an urge to slap him, now was definitely not the time to play the "star-crossed lovers" angle that Haymitch talked about.

Someone comes up behind me and I realize it's Marina. The girl with the ponytail seems pleased to see her. I'm shoved out of the way as Marina leans into Peeta.

"Where are you hurt?

"My leg..." Peeta grimaces.

"This is going to hurt..." Marina warns.

She places her hands on his leg and Peeta immediately tightens up. He instinctively grabs onto my hand and squeezes it to the point that he might break my hand. I want to pull away, but the agony on his face makes me think better of it. I watch as the gruesome wound on his leg slowly heals, bit by bit. I'm actually fascinated by how Marina does this, as I was frozen in the spot when Marina healed Rue. I watch his leg go from purple, to red and then to flesh again. The blood is gone and all that is left is a large tear in his pants.

Peeta releases my hand. He looks up at Marina in great gratitude.

"Thank you," he says.

He then turns to me. "Sorry if I hurt your hand."

"It's okay," I say quietly. My face flushes slightly when he looks at me. I act like it's not a big deal and help Peeta to his feet. He's a little wobbly at first and holds the tree as to prevent himself from being blown over in the still prevailing winds.

Marina stands up next to the girl with the ponytail.

"One is outside the arena with the others. The invasion is beginning, the earthquakes were her signaling to us."

"What's up with the hovercraft?" Marina shouts.

"It's been taken over by Mogadorians, Commander Deltoch, they were going to retrieve Antonio. They set up some kind of deal for him." I actually hear sadness in this girl's voice for a moment. "But then he found Six and Eight and decided to help them."

"What are we going to do?" Rue shouts.

The girl looks back at us and then back out into the storm. We watch as the hovercraft finally crashes into a fiery explosion in front of the Cornucopia, splashing water all over the flooding field. I watch as the girl brings her hand down a large bolt of lightning strikes the ship once more, causing it go up in a fiery explosion. The flood waters are no electrified, I can see little sparks in it and it almost looks pretty. My mind immediately becomes nervous that we might be electrocuted by the deadly substance, but the water is being kept away from the treeline by the girl in the ponytail.

"Six is going to use the lightning and deactivate the field around the arena..." the girl says. "I'm in touch with One... on my count..."

"One..."

The wind picks up, even more, the thunder is practically destroying our eardrums and the lightning gets brighter and brighter.

"Two..."

Rue reaches out and grabs my hand. She then grabs Peeta's, her face looks rather brave in such a serious situations.

"THREE!"

"Do it now Adam!" I hear Marina scream.

"Hold onto something Katniss," the girl calls out.


	37. Chapter 36: Chaos and Confusion

Chapter 36: Chaos and Confusion

Antonio's POV

It's been a lonely few days. Trekking with no real destination of any kind. I've failed that...being Commander Deltoch of the Mogadorian army, whatever that it. I have failed him severely and I've basically lost all hope in general. If I look at myself in the mirror, I'm just not a killer and basically, no promise of safety can ever change that. Even if I did manage to kill the list of people including my district partner who was actually nice to me and a few of the others, I couldn't face my sister. She'd probably never look at me the same way. She'd be scared of me. She wouldn't crawl into bed with me during thunderstorms like she used to or ask me to read bedtime stories to her. I just don't have the stomach or the heart... Like I would have a chance at killing them anyways, with my messed up knee and my scrawny appearance. I'm hardly a threat to anyone.

When the gong went that released us into the arena, I pretty much lost all my nerve seeing the bloodshed at the Cornucopia, I'd expect that if anyone would end up killing those tributes, it would be those tough ones from District 1, 2, 3 and 4. I knew that I wouldn't be rescued if I didn't fulfill my end of the bargain and I resigned to my fate. I'd rather be killed than kill myself. I'd rather die as myself than as some monster. So when all the tributes scattered, I grabbed myself a backpack and just ran.

I disappeared, further and further into the woods, praying that the hovercraft wouldn't find me and for Commander Deltoch to take out his own revenge on me for failing him. I ate mostly berries and edible plants, drinking water from moss and maybe the occasional puddle to stay alive. I thought about sleeping in trees but with my knee, it was too hard to climb so I have been finding the thick brush to sleep in. It is hardly comfortable and I usually wake up with bugs crawling on my face, but at least it provides me with some cover and I felt safe. Sometimes I would stay in the same area for a couple of nights since I never seemed to run into anybody and the assumption for most tributes would be to keep moving, actually gave me an advantage.

I spent most of my time laying in thick brush, looking up at the sky and thinking. Thinking about my family, thinking about my friends, thinking about the Capitol, thinking about what the other tributes might be doing, but most of all, thinking about why this alien commander picked me to kill the list of people. My score was terrible, my odds of winning were low, my knee was a liability so why me? Why these specific tributes? How did he know those specific tributes...? Come to think of it, how did Christina know so many of the other tributes. We're all from different areas and we're basically strangers, even if we live in the same district. They seemed very close and how they always managed to get into Christina's room so fast without anyone seeing them confused me. They were also very determined to keep me in the dark. I always thought Christina was a little weird, but she was definitely hiding something... they all were.

Why did he pick me? I'm worthless in the end, I'm basically wasting away in the bushes, waiting for the end to come. The commander would pick me up in the hovercraft after I was dead. It's a pretty sad way to die, my parents would probably be embarrassed that I died this way, not really trying, then again, I had wanted to live a long a healthy life, not die at the age if fifteen.

A few days into the Games, there was a massive fire that scored half the forest at least. I don't know where it came from, but all I could do was run as fast as my knee would allow. I managed to dodge some fireballs as well until the blaze vanished as quickly as it had appeared. I actually enjoyed the warmth briefly as the cold nights in the brush were uncomfortable. The problem was that the fire took out a lot of my food source and I had to try other methods of nourish myself. I used the ashes of the fire to cook edible insects, to give myself some protein and I tried to hunt forest animals, but my knee didn't allow me to catch them. Another day or so later there was a massive explosion that rocked the whole earth. I was very confused by this and at one point saw smoke rise above the trees, but I knew I had to steer clear of it in case there was another.

I woke up to an unusual sound this morning. I brushed off some leaves and peered out to see what the sounds were. To my surprise, I saw a black rabbit, nibbling on some nearby plants. My stomach immediately begins to growl at the thought of meat. I really didn't want to kill an innocent creature, but... I was hungry. All I had eaten last night were a few grasshoppers and I sucked on some leaves to satisfy my cravings. A rabbit would be good meat. I grab a nearby rock and with very slow movements, I approach the creature from behind. The rabbit doesn't seem to notice the rustling sounds I make as I rise from the bush. I take soft steps, as lightly as I can, raising the rock above my head, tearing up slightly and my mind racing about what I was going to do. If my sister is watching, I hope she looks away because I know how much she likes small animals. I suck in a deep breath.

Suddenly, something grabs me from behind and pulls me into a choke hold. I'm so surprised that I drop the rock. The arm is very strong and it begins squeezing the breath out of me. I begin to struggle with the arm and whoever it is holding me, thinking this is the end of me. I try to get a good look at him, except... there's no one there...

All I see is trees and the bushes I came out of. There is no physical human being behind me and yet...something has a tight grip on me. I'm starting to gasp for air.

"Six stop," I hear and a boy with dark tanned skin and curly black hair is now standing where the rabbit used to be, in front of me and this... invisible person, who's trying to kill me.

"He was about to kill you Eight," a female voice says, coming from seemingly the air. I'm so confused and so scared that I'm becoming light headed and am about to pass out.

"He's weak and hungry, can you blame him?" the boy says. He reaches over and somehow releases the arm that is around me. I take in a huge gasp of air and try to even out my breathing. I end up on my knees, trying to process what's going on. I blink a few times and I see a girl seemingly materialize out of the air.

My heart goes into my throat and I want to scream, except it's caught in my throat as well. I try shuffling backward and I blink very hard to make sure I'm not seeing things.

A girl with raven coloured hair and olive tanned skin now stands next to the boy with the curly black hair. Both are wearing tribute jackets and both are looking at me. The girl looks very annoyed, even vengeful, but the boy is more neutral. I'm heaving so hard from fright and confusion that I'm actually shaking.

"He's not a threat to us," the boy says.

"Well then he's a liability," the girl says ignorantly.

"We don't kill innocent people you know that,"

My head is spinning as I try to come to terms with what just happened. The boy leans over and offers a hand to help me up. I flinch at first and attempt to shuffle back, but the guy gives me a warm smile and for some reason, I trust it and grab his arm.

He pulls me to my feet.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

I am now able to analyze the two tributes' faces better now. I recognize them as two of the tributes I was supposed to kill Starla and Hannu. I think I also remember seeing them in Christina's room awhile ago. I blink a few more times and catch my breath before I nod.

"You're Antonio aren't you?" the boy asks.

I finally manage to get a few words out. "T-That's me."

"Sorry about Six, she just sometimes attacks without reason."

"I never attack without reason, if you weren't so busy being a cute little rabbit and eating, you could've been this guy's next lunch."

"It's still no grounds for trying to suffocate him. Look at him Six, he's skin and bones."

"I know care about his metabolism, I just don't want to have to keep babysitting you when you let your guard down!"

My mind is still reeling from what just happened to me. I was being choked by invisible hands and suddenly the girl appears out of nowhere. I'm really scared and confused.

There's suddenly a loud sound that pierces the argument. It's ear-splitting and my hands immediately go over my ears to prevent my brains from exploding. The other two follow suit. The wind around us suddenly starts to blow up leaves and dust and the ground is shaking. I manage so see a large silver ship hovering above the treeline, ten feet from where we stand. I recognize it as the hovercraft that picks up the tributes' dead bodies, but it seems different.

I see two panels open up on the side of the ship and a light charging up inside.

"RUN!" the boy shouts. He grabs my hand and suddenly I black out. My head is throbbing and my stomach is weak. I blink again and we're in the clearing with the golden horn of the Cornucopia gleaming at us. There's a large explosion behind us and the boy is still holding my hand as the girl runs up to us.

"The thing is weaponized," the girl from six says. "The Mogs have control of it."

Something in my brain clicks.

"It's Commander Deltoch," I say. "He wanted me to kill some of the tributes, you included to save my life, but I couldn't do it."

The girl glares at me for a moment before the ear piercing sound of the ship approaching comes again. My heart is pounding in my chest and I see more blasts coming from the ship. It's trying to burn the surrounding trees in its path of destruction.

Fire, it's suddenly everywhere.

The smoke and flames eat up everything I can see around me, but I don't seem to be harmed. I look around, try to figure out what is going on. The ship is fast approaching and trying to blast anything that moves.

Suddenly, I see the District 8 boy rush at me and then suddenly I black out again for a second. When everything clears, I'm standing on top of the Cornucopia. How did I get up here? I look down at the field below and see the District 8 boy and District 6 girl fighting some of the Careers. But something is going on...I don't know how to describe it.

The boy from Eight appears to be changing his shape throughout the fight. The things he turns into are impossible to describe. Six waves her hands around wildly as if swatting an invisible enemy.

Suddenly, the ship lets out another blast towards Six and Eight. The Careers are pushed to the side and the two...beings begin their assault on the ship. The boy from District 8 is drawing the fire of the ship as the weather gets worse, the girl with dark hair having her hands raised to the skies as if she's controlling them.

I look up when I hear a loud crash, thunder clouds. It begins raining like hell, drenching everything, including me. I'm worried I'm going to slip on the wet metal. Soon, the nearby lake begins to rise and the field is flooded. Except, for that the areas around their feet are dry. Even as they move.

How?!

The Careers appear to be down a couple of tributes. Where are the girl and guy from One and the boy from Five? I don't remember them dying... Maybe they fled. They too look very confused and are seeking shelter in the Cornucopia.

The ship is now being knocked around in the prevailing winds. I cling to a crevice in the Cornucopia to prevent myself from being blown over. I can hardly see anything over the thick rain, but a faint blue light can be seen, like a lighthouse in a stormy sea. Lightning strikes the ship several times. When I look up again, the clouds have formed the angry face of an old man. The eyes and mouth open and lightning bolts shoot down. The lightning causes the ship to spin in circles as if caught in a tornado and finally crash into the flooding waters. The girl then brings her hand down and a giant lightning bolt electrifies the water, causing it to burst into flames.

I'm so confused and so dizzy that my grip finally gives out. I try to yell over the storm and begin to fall into the water. This is how it ends. This is how I die without any answers or a chance to say good-bye. Before I hit the deadly substance, I stop in mid air. I can see the electrified water inches from my face, but I'm floating. My heart has hit overdrive and my mind is racing with so many questions.

"What's going on?" I finally manage to scream at the two of them.

"It's alright, I've got you." The District 8 boy says calmly. He turns to the "Six, I'll get Antonio to the others...I think it's time to get out of this death trap."


End file.
